A mid-night inferno gutted a shopping
complex in Ayede-Ogbese, a sleepy community in Akure
North Local Government Area of Ondo State, destroying
properties worth millions of naira.
The fire, which completely razed the shopping complex,
reportedly started in the night and lasted for hours
before it was eventually brought under control.
According to an eye-witness, the residents of the area
heard a combustible sound and moved out only to
discover that a shopping complex located in the area
was being razed by fire.
The residents of the area, however, prevented the spread
of the fire to the residential houses in the
neighbourhood.
One of the victims of the fire outbreak, Mr Sikiru Raheem
said he was devastated when he heard of the ugly
incident, adding that he ensured that all electric
appliances were switched off before he left the shop the
previous day.
Raheem, who said he relocated to the shop recently,
said he had lost all his equipment to the fire incident.
It was, however, gathered that there was no electricity
supply in the town at the time the incident occurred.
He appealed to the state government, institutions,
philanthropic organizations and individuals to come to
his rescue as the fire had burnt down all he had worked
for in the past fourteen years.