From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
An early morning fire, yesterday, destroyed 17 shops at Oja Tuntun, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
Findings showed that the fire started early in the morning as residents and shop owners struggled to put it off.
The spokesperson of the Osun Fire Service, Adekunle Ibrahim, who confirmed the incident, said Ile-Ife Zonal Fire Station was informed about a fire incident at Olulere new market, Oja Tuntun in Ile-Ife at about 00:30hrs early morning of Saturday.
He said, “The cause of the fire was unknown but many speculations by sympathizers and onlookers put the cause of the fire on many factors among which a power surge was one.
“We met the fire well alight and put out the fire with a combined effort with the OAU Fire Unit.
“A row of shops which contains 8 shops front and another 8 back making total of 16 shops plus another one container shop making a total of 17 shops that were affected,” Ibrahim said.
Some miscreants took advantage of the incident to loot shops but they were repelled by security operatives.
The market has witnessed a number of fire incidents in the last three years.