By Jemimah Wellington, JKNewsMedia Correspondent
FLAMES TORE through parts of Arena Market in Oshodi on Tuesday evening, triggering panic among traders and residents as a fire outbreak engulfed sections of the busy commercial hub in Lagos.
The fire was reported at the market with videos circulating on social media showing thick smoke billowing into the sky and intense flames consuming market structures noting that traders and bystanders were seen attempting to salvage goods amid the chaos as the blaze spread rapidly, placing several stalls and properties at risk.
Affected traders at the scene said officials of the fire service were not immediately present and that early efforts to contain the fire were hampered by an apparent lack of water supply adding that this made it difficult to bring the situation under control quickly.
The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service (LSFRS) later confirmed the incident in a statement issued on Tuesday.
A statement, signed by the Director of the Service, Margaret Adeseye, said a distress call was received at about 5.50 pm reporting a fire outbreak at Arena Market, Bolade, Oshodi.
She stated that firefighting units were immediately deployed and arrived at the scene within five minutes, at approximately 5.55 pm.
Adeseye also explained that the fire affected a section of the market comprising five 40-foot container shops arranged in two rows, bringing the total number of shops impacted to 10.
“The affected area is mainly used for the storage and sale of clothing materials, stocked in bales. The fire was successfully confined to the affected section and has been fully curtailed as the situation is firmly under control, with no risk of the fire spreading to other parts of the market,” the statement said.
She assured members of the public that all necessary measures had been taken to safeguard lives and property and added that an investigation would be conducted to determine the cause of the fire. She said updates would be provided as more information becomes available.
As of the time of reporting, the cause of the fire remained unclear and there was no official confirmation from emergency authorities on the extent of damage or possible casualties.
The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) also confirmed the outbreak through its official social media platform. In a post shared on its verified X account, the agency said, “There’s a fire outbreak inside Arena Shopping Mall along Agege Motor Road, Oshodi. Men of @LagosRescue are on ground to extinguish the inferno.”
LASTMA added that personnel from LagosRescue were on the ground in the early hours of the blaze attempting to extinguish the fire.
Footage shared online showed emergency responders battling intense flames as thick smoke engulfed sections of the market.
Emergency response efforts were said to have continued late into the night as fire crews worked to prevent the spread of the fire to unaffected stalls.
Separate reports from the scene indicated that at least six container shops were destroyed, along with goods estimated to be worth millions of naira as traders were described as devastated as some returned from year end travels to find their stock reduced to ashes.
Arena Market is described as one of Lagos’ busiest trading centres and is widely known as a hub for fabrics, electronics and other merchandise noting that the sprawling facility is owned by the Nigerian Army and attracts large numbers of traders and customers daily.
Also, fires in the area have often raised concerns about infrastructure gaps, emergency response readiness and the vulnerability of informal markets to recurring disasters and said the market has previously experienced fire incidents, stressing longstanding safety concerns in Lagos markets.
State authorities, including the LSFRS are yet to issue a formal update detailing the full scale of damage as traders at the market were seen surveying losses while awaiting official assessments.
Reports say the incident marks the second major fire outbreak in Lagos within a week recalling that last week, a massive fire engulfed the 22 storey Great Nigeria Insurance House on Martins Street, Lagos Island.
Till now, there have been no official statements confirming casualties from the Arena Market fire, and emergency authorities have said investigations will determine the cause of the outbreak.
