Fire guts 25-storey Great Nigeria House.
NO fewer than three persons were, yesterday 4th of November 2013, injured
in a fire that engulfed a 25-storey building on 45 and 47 Martins Street, Lagos
Island Local Government Area, owned by the Great Nigeria Insurance Company
Limited, popularly called Great Nigeria House.
The fire which started at 6a.m. on
the first floor and spread to the third floor of the over 30-year-old building.
More than 200 traders occupying the building were displaced,
as business activities around Oluwole Market and other adjourning streets were
paralysed and property worth billions of naira destroyed in the inferno.
Hundreds of bystanders and staff of corporate organisations
in the building watched helplessly as fire service men battled to put out the
fire.
Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Rasak Fadipe, said that
the service received a distress call 6:34a.m.
A senior officer of the Federal Fire Service identified as Mr. Obiah Onoh was, however, manhandled by the angry mob for the service’s alleged late response to distress calls.
“I don’t know why they attacked him because at that time he
was busy removing some fire-fighting equipment from the truck. He has been
taken to the hospital for treatment.”
NEMA Information Officer, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye who confirmed the attack said: “The
mob attacked Obiah at 10a.m., while he was trying to put out the fire.
“I cannot say what caused the fire. All I can say is that
five minutes after PHCN restored power, we saw a thick smoke.
“Before we could do anything, the entire first floor of the
building was already engulfed.”
R.I gathered that , about three cars parked on the second
floor of the building were also burnt by the fire.
An eyewitness Mr. Babatunde Jimoh,, said: “I was one of the
early persons to arrive. We entered the building at about 9a.m. to remove some
of the cars parked on the second floor''
“After we had succeeded in removing five cars, we couldn’t
withstand the thick black smoke.
“We decided to leave. As we approached the first floor, the
smoke increased. While I was able to escape unhurt through the entrance, my
friends Yusuf Adeshina and Mueez could not go through the fire.
“They, therefore, jumped from the first floor and sustained
injuries. Another trader also sustained injuries while trying to escape from
the inferno.
Officials of the Federal and Lagos State fire services,
National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, their Lagos State counterpart,
LASEMA, and other emergency management agencies were still battling the fire at
3:30p.m., nine hours after the outbreak.
It was further learnt that the fire was made worse by inflammable goods stocked in the building,
especially air conditioners, rubber foot wear among others.
‘However,Mr. Olawale Ajayi who is a trader there said: “I operate a shop here,
and my shop is on the third floor. I was already here about few minutes before
6a.m.
Suddenly, we heard sounds of footsteps, an indication that
people were running. They started screaming to alert us of the fire on the
first floor.
‘I lost N2.5 million’
Speaking to R.I, Mr. Kingsley Ogochukwu, also a trader,
said: “I sell footwear in this building. I received the call at about 7a.m. All
my goods have been burnt.
“I have a shop on the third floor, while my warehouse is on
the 10th floor. I re-stocked last week in anticipation of Yuletide season
sales.
“I have lost N2.5 million worth of goods and N20,000 cash.
This excludes the goods I sold to some of the traders on the first floor, which
they have not paid for.
“I don’t know how to describe this because we have over 200
traders on the affected floors and none of us have goods less than a million.
“For instance, my friend also lost over N15 million because
his warehouse and shop were on the first and third floors, respectively.”
Mr. Daniel Ebhefu, one of the traders on the first floor,
said: “I have lost all my investments.
“All I can say is that the country’s fire fighters aren’t
effective. There is need to improve. If not for the assistance from a
commercial bank and a construction firm, they couldn’t have contained the fire.
“I was at home when I received the call that my shop has
been affected. When I got here, the fire was still at the first floor, where it
started.
“They have not been able to put off the fire and it has
extended to the second and third floors.”
He added that there would be an investigation into the cause
of the fire and the damage done to the property.
Fire guts 25-storey Great Nigeria House
BY MONSURU OLOWOOPEJO, UJU MBANUSI & PATRICIA NWOSU
LAGOS — NO fewer than three persons were, yesterday, injured in a fire that engulfed a 25-storey building on 45 and 47 Martins Street, Lagos Island Local Government Area, owned by the Great Nigeria Insurance Company Limited, popularly called Great Nigeria House.
More than 200 traders occupying the building were displaced, as business activities around Oluwole Market and other adjourning streets were paralysed and property worth billions of naira destroyed in the inferno.
Hundreds of bystanders and staff of corporate organisations in the building watched helplessly as fire service men battled to put out the fire.
LAGOS — NO fewer than three persons were, yesterday, injured in a fire that engulfed a 25-storey building on 45 and 47 Martins Street, Lagos Island Local Government Area, owned by the Great Nigeria Insurance Company Limited, popularly called Great Nigeria House.
More than 200 traders occupying the building were displaced, as business activities around Oluwole Market and other adjourning streets were paralysed and property worth billions of naira destroyed in the inferno.
Hundreds of bystanders and staff of corporate organisations in the building watched helplessly as fire service men battled to put out the fire.
Fire guts 25-storey Great Nigeria House
BY MONSURU OLOWOOPEJO, UJU MBANUSI & PATRICIA NWOSU
LAGOS — NO fewer than three persons were, yesterday, injured in a fire that engulfed a 25-storey building on 45 and 47 Martins Street, Lagos Island Local Government Area, owned by the Great Nigeria Insurance Company Limited, popularly called Great Nigeria House.
More than 200 traders occupying the building were displaced, as business activities around Oluwole Market and other adjourning streets were paralysed and property worth billions of naira destroyed in the inferno.
Hundreds of bystanders and staff of corporate organisations in the building watched helplessly as fire service men battled to put out the fire.
LAGOS — NO fewer than three persons were, yesterday, injured in a fire that engulfed a 25-storey building on 45 and 47 Martins Street, Lagos Island Local Government Area, owned by the Great Nigeria Insurance Company Limited, popularly called Great Nigeria House.
More than 200 traders occupying the building were displaced, as business activities around Oluwole Market and other adjourning streets were paralysed and property worth billions of naira destroyed in the inferno.
Hundreds of bystanders and staff of corporate organisations in the building watched helplessly as fire service men battled to put out the fire.
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