How weak regulations’ enforcement fuels Lagos markets’ fire disaster

In Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial centre, markets serve as the lifeblood of daily trade that provides sustenance and livelihood for thousands of traders. But, behind the vibrant economic activities lie an ever-present danger of fire that has brought misery to many and continues to loom large. JOHNSON IDOWU writes on the recurring fire incidents in Lagos markets and how neglect in regulatory enforcement and safety awareness has created a ticking time bomb

Lagos markets have long been the nerve centres of trade, from the sprawling Balogun Market to the buzzing Ladipo Market, The Arena Market in Oshodi, Ilepo food market and the ever-busy Computer Village in Ikeja where commercial activities thrive in the heart of Nigeria’s economic capital. Every day, buyers and sellers meet to ensure the wheels of commerce turn steadily.

However, what lurks behind this economic vigour is a systemic failure to maintain safety standards. For decades, Lagos markets have been besieged by fires, causing untold hardship for traders who lose their livelihoods in a matter of minutes. These fire incidents, often preventable, are rooted in unsafe practices, regulatory failures, and ignorance of fire prevention protocols.

 The genesis of the fire problem can be traced back to multiple causes: poor electrical wiring, overcrowded market spaces, illegal structures, lack of fire extinguishers, and inadequate awareness campaigns on fire safety. Despite Lagos being the commercial capital of Nigeria, many of its busy markets remain vulnerable to destructive fires due to these issues.

Data by the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Services revealed that 1,011 fire incidents were recorded in Lagos State between January and August 2024 which according to the Lagos State Emergency Management report constituted the third contributing factor to emergencies and disasters in the state.

 The growing number of fire incidents has posed a challenge to even the government of the state with concerns about how fire incidents could be curbed in the market.

Traders groan

 On January 22, 2024, at least 6,700 traders lost their goods to a fire that gutted the popular Mandilas building on Broad Street, Lagos Island Local Government Area of Lagos State. The fire also destroyed no fewer than 450 shops, 30 offices, two hotels, and five restaurants located in the 14-storey building, according to the Lagos State Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye.

The fire, according to the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, was caused by careless welding during the installation of a power generator on the second floor of the building.

Narrating their losses to this reporter who visited the scene of the fire at the time, the traders lamented that goods worth billions in naira were destroyed in the fire.

A trader who identified herself as Sewa lamented the impact of the fire which she claimed had left her devastated.

“I sell clothes in this building and my goods were affected. I can’t even quantify the loss that I have incurred from this incident. I am devastated at this moment. Do you know how many goods have been lost to this fire?” Sewa asked.

Another trader identified as Badmus, in a WhatsApp status sighted by our correspondent, disclosed that he lost goods estimated at N200m to the fire incident.

The message read in part, “We were deeply affected by the fire as I lost all the stock in my warehouse of more than 7,000 shoes estimated to be N200m and all the documents in my office including deals I had not concluded yet.

“I am someone who believes everything happens for a reason, but this is a lot to comprehend. Will Badmus Store bounce back? Sure, it will, if our customers stick with us.”

At the popular Balogun Market, the scars of recent fire outbreaks are still fresh. A five-storey building on Gbajumo Street was gutted by fire, leading to the loss of goods worth millions of naira.

According to eyewitnesses, the inferno started around 11 pm on the said date when traders had closed for the day.

A resident, Mojeed Adetutu, said the fire started on the first floor before it affected the entire building.

He said, “When we heard about the fire, we rushed down to this place and saw that there was electricity in the building while it was burning. We assisted the firefighters in quenching it but in the middle of the night, we realised that the fire had progressed to the second floor.

“At that point, we concluded that the situation was beyond control. Sadly, some of the fire trucks that came had no water. They had to borrow a fire truck from the United Bank of Africa. By 6 am the next day, the fire had progressed to the third and fourth floors.

 “We’re just trying to make a living,” said Sarah Ogundele, a shoe vendor. “But when you lose everything to a fire, it’s like starting life all over again. Some people never recover.”

A trader, who identified herself as Iya Bimpe, had said, “Some traders lost goods worth N10m while others lost goods worth N40m. The least loss recorded is N3m. Items sold in the market included Italian shoes, bags, suits, and children’s shoes. Some traders just bought goods for the New Year” recounting the losses of traders at the Mandilas building fire.

Similar tales of woe abound in the Ladipo Plank Market in Orile-Iganmu in the Surulere area of the state. A fire incident that occurred on November 1, 2023, also left tales of woes. About 300 shops were destroyed in the fire incident with traders lamenting that goods to the tune of billions in naira were destroyed.

A trader who identified as Rasheed had narrated, “One thing we cannot ascertain is how the fire started. All I know is that the fire started around 12:30 am. People were not allowed to sleep in the market so I wonder what happened and how the fire started.

“Each wood cost N1,800 and some of them cost N2,500, so billions have been lost in this fire. The saddest thing is that some people just restocked their shops and now all their properties have been lost,” he said.

Traders like Aisha Olanipekun also recount close encounters with fire. “The last fire that happened here almost consumed my shop. I only escaped because I came to open early that day. The market is overcrowded, and there’s no space to move when a fire starts. It’s a death trap,” she said, her voice tinged with frustration.

The destruction caused by market fires goes beyond the immediate loss of goods. These incidents have far-reaching economic and social consequences for the traders who depend on the markets for survival. Many traders take loans to stock their stalls, and when fires wipe out their businesses, they are left with nothing but debt.

For market traders, the danger of fire is not an abstract threat; it is a constant, looming reality. The dense arrangement of stalls, illegal construction, and the absence of proper fire safety measures have created an environment where a single spark can ignite an unstoppable blaze.

Beyond the traders, these fires have a profound impact on the local economy. Markets serve as hubs of trade and commerce, and when they are destroyed, entire supply chains are disrupted, affecting businesses across the state and even beyond.

Safety violations, regulatory failures

The causes of market fires are numerous but often preventable. One of the major culprits is electrical faults caused by illegal and unsafe wiring. Many traders tap into the electrical grid without proper authorisation, leading to overloading and short circuits that can spark fires.

Another contributing factor is the construction of illegal stalls and shops that block access roads and prevent fire trucks from reaching affected areas. Markets in Lagos are notoriously overcrowded, and the illegal expansion of trading spaces has made it impossible for firefighters to navigate the narrow pathways when emergencies arise. As a result, fires spread quickly, consuming entire sections of the market before help can arrive.

In March, a fire incident at the Idumota market in the Lagos Island area of the state was escalated due to scarcity of water. No fewer than four buildings were destroyed as a result of the fire.

According to Farinloye, the emergency responders were faced with the challenge of water supply that could have aided the effective quelling of the fire, preventing the escalation and the level of damage caused by the fire.

He stressed that there was no water source within proximity of the fire incident, thereby forcing the fire vehicles to go in turn to get water.

Farinloye had said, “The major problem we had was the lack of a water source. We have over 10 firefighting appliances and in the whole of Lagos Island, there is nowhere we can source water. So, each of these firefighting appliances had to go about three to four times to fetch water.

“Julius Berger also had to supply us with 30,000 litres of water. Both the Federal Fire Service and the State Fire Service were on the ground, but there was not enough water.”

Similarly, the Director of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Services, Magaret Adeseye, stressed that combatting fire in Lagos markets is strenuous because of the overcrowded markets that often make crowd control difficult.

“Some of the challenges faced by the LSFRS in combatting market fires include; Right of way to scene of the incidents, crowd control and congestion in Lagos markets. It has always been a great challenge accessing the scene of fire incidents. Also, there’s the challenge of non-adherence to fire safety, rules and practices most especially in the marketplaces,” Adeseye said in a recent interview with this reporter.

Meanwhile, a senior official of the LSFRS who does not want to be mentioned in print claimed that the weak regulation and policy of the Lagos State Government that does not allow for strict enforcement and punishment for violators of fire safety protocols and guidelines are further compounding the prevention of fire in markets. He stressed that some traders often hide under this weak regulation to violate fire safety procedures.

The source said, “It is not that we cannot enforce compliance for shop owners and traders in our market to own a fire extinguisher in their stores and shops but the law is not supporting it yet. Most of the traders when you go to them to let them see the need for them to have a fire extinguisher handy, they dismiss the suggestion by hiding under the law. But in the end, they are always the ones to bear the brunt.”

Fact-finding mission

To ascertain the factors responsible for the recurring fire incidents, this reporter visited some of the markets on a fact-finding mission.

 At the Computer Village, a popular phone market in the capital of Lagos, this reporter observed some fire safety violations. Aside from the fact that in all of the shops sighted by this reporter, there was no single fire extinguisher handy to address emergency fire incidents, the majority of the traders and shop owners seemed not to even understand the necessity of having a fire extinguisher handy in case of emergency.

Some of the traders approached by this reporter declined to comment on having a fire extinguisher in their shops.

Another concern observed by our correspondent was that on Idowu Lane, a section of the market, the point where generating sets used by the majority of the shop owners were gathered seems poorly arranged without a fire extinguisher nearby that could serve as first aid in the case of emergency.

This reality brought to memory a fire incident that occurred in Lagos Island which started from the generator point after a trader attempted to refuel his generating set. The incident not only destroyed goods, but also claimed the life of the trader who was refuelling the generator.

At least, three 50kg cylinders of gas were sighted by this reporter with one of the cylinders actively engaged to carry out cooking activities.

When this reporter approached one of the traders to ask if they were not worried about the gas cylinders being used in the open market, he dismissed this reporter saying “This food vendor has been selling here for so long a time and there has been no issue. Nothing bad will happen.”

At the popular Ilepo Market, some of the traders showed signs of a lack of knowledge of basic fire prevention strategies.

“I’ve never seen a fire drill here,” said Abubakar Yusuf, a fruit vendor in Ilepo Market. “Nobody tells us what to do when a fire starts. All we can do is run and hope for the best.”

In Ikotun Market, clustered stalls rent the air with most of the shops located close to each other thereby making it difficult for firefighters to access some areas should there be an emergency.

Although the big shopping complex at the Oyingbo Market showed well-arranged and properly set out shops, external stalls and wooden attachments were seen by this reporter which further compounds the rowdiness of the market. Meanwhile, there is a fire hydrant located at a strategic point in the market but each of the shops does not have a fire extinguisher handy to respond to a fire emergency.

The situation seems to be different at The Arena Shopping Complex in the Bolade area of Oshodi. The well-laid-out arrangement of the shops is a beauty to behold. In all of the markets visited by this reporter, The Arena Market and Oyingbo Market were the markets with visible fire hydrants that could be resorted to in the case of an emergency.

However, the food vendor section located at the extreme of the market was clustered with gas cylinders with no fire extinguishers in sight to avert any crisis. This researcher sighted not less than five 50kg gas cylinders at different locations that are in use by the food vendors.

Disasters devastating – Experts

Experts have expressed concerns about the devastating impacts of fire which they claimed, ranging from job loss, psychological and emotional trauma, destruction of goods and properties and even death.

A researcher, Ayobami Popoola, in a 2016 study, disclosed that, “Fire is one of the most dangerous and common hazards capable of destroying so much within a short while. Fire disasters are not seasonal in most cases and are not tied to any natural factor, unlike floods which cannot take place without increased precipitation. All categories of fire disasters can be devastating but market fires are the worst affecting the means of livelihood of many victims at a time.

“Although fire disasters are wilder in dry seasons, findings revealed that fire outbreaks, especially in marketplaces, are not a respecter of seasons occurring in wet seasons. Historically, market fires are not a new phenomenon, however, recent trends are taking phenomenal dimensions. Thus, it is imperative to know that fire disasters over the years have accounted for means of livelihood for traders and in some cases loss of life leading to mental breakdown.”

In a 2021 study by Moruf Alabi, Bankole Adekalu, and Ayobami Popoola, they found that market fire disasters contributed to the rise in unemployment and sabotaged the government’s efforts to curb unemployment.

According to them, “Market fires, amongst other factors, have contributed to sabotaging the efforts of the government to reduce unemployment. Considering the damages caused by the fire outbreaks in the different markets, a good number have been rendered unemployed. Property loss incurred by traders owing to market fires ranges from five to over twenty shops depending on time and duration of incidence and effectiveness of emergency response.”

Also speaking on the destructive nature of fire incidents, a senior official of the LSFRS who does not want to be mentioned in print stressed that each year, goods worth billions in naira were lost to fire incidents in Lagos. He added that there was a recent case of a trader who had to relocate to his hometown after losing his entire savings to a fire incident.

“A fire incident is the worst disaster that can happen because when a fire occurs, it destroys a lot of things. Unlike floods where victims could still get some of their properties, fire often consumes everything if there is no quick response to combat it. I know of a trader who had to relocate to his hometown because he lost everything to a market fire.”

Experts harp on safety

Experts have called for urgent reforms to improve fire safety in Lagos markets. They argue that the government must not only enforce existing regulations but also invest in infrastructure that will make it easier to prevent and fight fires.

“We need to see real commitment from the government,” said Femi Akinyele, a fire prevention advocate. “There should be mandatory fire drills, regular safety inspections, and penalties for markets that do not comply with fire safety standards. Traders must also be educated about the risks and how to protect themselves.”

In his 2016 study, Popoola recommended that practical efforts should be taken by the government to put every market in a safe State. This, he said, “includes demolishing every vulnerable and illegal structure in markets and reconstruction to modern and resilient standards after proper and adequate consultations with stakeholders. It is better to take this action before the event of the fire as attempts to do this after the fire in previous times, has brought about the allegation of arson levelled against the government.

“Furthermore, there should be a workable collaboration with the public power supply body to ensure the sustainability of power supply to the markets. Illegal connections should be corrected and possibly rewiring of the entire market. More so, significant attention should be given to power supply to the markets to monitor the voltage supply at all times. Also, there should be a central way of cutting off the power supply to markets at night. Other sources such as solar energy can be used to power lighting within the markets at night times.”

Also, a Quality, Health, Safety and Environmental specialist, Titilayo Bolaji, stressed that the government needs to do more by creating awareness and enforcing compliance with fire prevention strategies as a means of curbing the incessant market fires.

She said, “The government must embark on enforcement in regards to what minimum fire safety standard each commercial building and space should have. They should intensify awareness in terms of storage of items, awareness in terms of compatibility of items- what I can sell beside the next shop. Apart from awareness, the government should enforce laws about where you can build. The government should channel energy to giving people the right awareness and set minimum standards such as avoiding building clusters, encouraging the building of firewalls and roofs, ensuring conduit wiring and having a central place for generators and storage of fuel that is kitted with fire extinguishers.”

Measures in place – LSFRS

Reacting to the incessant fire incidents in the state, the Director of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, said the agency could not enforce compliance with fire safety rules because its operation was a humanitarian service.

She however stressed that the agency has continued to embark on sensitisation of traders to the need to adhere to fire safety guidelines in their markets.

“The agency has always advocated for people to own and know how to use portable firefighting equipment such as fire extinguishers and fire blankets ready at all times. Meanwhile, we’re working with the market leaders to provide it in clusters i.e. rows and columns. Various awareness programmes have been embarked on via radio programmes, market evacuation drills and even online on how to use a fire extinguisher and where to get one.

“We have not yet been enforcing the law by compulsion but by obligatory. Our job is a humanitarian duty and at all times we should be seen to be humane. Measures are being put in place to curb incessant fire incidents in Lagos, as there’s an ongoing collaboration with various market groups and grassroots via the creation of Fire Marshals and the whistle-blowing initiative which we believe in the long term will bring to the barest fire incidents in Lagos markets,” Adeseye stressed.

Call for action

As Lagos markets continue to burn, the need for urgent reforms has never been clearer and more poignant. Lives and livelihoods are at stake, and the time for complacency has passed. The government, market authorities, and traders must come together to prioritise safety over profit, ensuring that the next fire does not claim even more lives and property. There is an urgent need for enforcement of regulations that would address incessant fire incidents in Lagos markets.