Following the fire disaster that razed no fewer than 14 multi-storey buildings and destroyed assets worth millions in Docemo Market on Lagos Island, last Tuesday, Lagos State governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has decried the incident, expressing his disappointment on the "reckless handling of flammable materials" in the market.
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu spoke when he received the leadership of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) led by its newly appointed Director-General, Mrs. Zubaida Umar who were in Lagos to sympathise with the state
The visit came just as Lagos State's emergency response team was winding up its recovery effort at the fire scene.
Sanwo-Olu, who received the NEMA team at the State House in Marina, conveyed his appreciation to the agency's boss for prompt deployment of first responders from NEMA to join the State's emergency response team in combating the inferno minutes after the alert was sent out.
The governor, who noted that 120 tanks of water were used up before the inferno was brought under control, commended the first responders from both the State and federal levels for their round-the-clock action to salvage the situation and stop the spread of the fire.
Sanwo-Olu, He said the firefighters arrived at the fire scene on time and could have saved some of the razed assets but added that the responders could not gain access to the fire source due to obstruction along the tiny street.
He said: "Before the unfortunate fire incident, we had conducted sensitisation and held extensive advocacy for traders on the need to refrain from acts that could potentially endanger their lives and their trading environment. We are utterly disappointed because we believe the incident could be avoided. Some traders in the market were completely reckless and inconsiderate."
Mrs Umar said the visit was to show solidarity with the state government and to show support to the first responders who had remained in the scene since the incident started.
She pledged that NEMA would raise the level of its awareness and sensitisation on power utilisation in closely built markets to minimise risk of fire and mitigate emergency situations.
