Lagos Warns Against Ethnicising Market Fire Outbreaks
Kehinde Adeleye
A media aide to Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has criticised what he described as attempts by some social media users to ethnicise recent fire outbreaks in major Lagos markets.
Wale Ajetunmobi, Senior Special Assistant on Media to the governor, said it has become a recurring trend for certain commentators to frame market fire incidents as targeted attacks against traders from a particular region, despite evidence pointing to unsafe trading practices as the primary cause of such disasters.
Reacting to claims on X that several markets dominated by Igbo traders were razed within a short period, Ajetunmobi dismissed the narrative as misleading and divisive. He argued that Lagos markets are ethnically diverse and that traders from different backgrounds are affected whenever fire outbreaks occur.
According to him, the recent Balogun Market fire originated from the GNI Building, which he noted is owned by Oodu’a Group, a Yoruba-owned conglomerate. He added that the inferno caused extensive losses to traders across ethnic lines, including Yoruba traders, religious institutions and private individuals.
Ajetunmobi further stressed that the fire also destroyed Shitta-Bey Mosque on Martins Street, one of the oldest mosques in Lagos, highlighting the widespread impact of the incident beyond any single group.
He attributed the frequent fire outbreaks in Lagos markets to unsafe practices by traders, including the use of industrial generators on upper floors of buildings converted into warehouses, storage of flammable materials in poorly ventilated spaces and the placement of fuel tanks close to running generators.
He also cited illegal electricity connections, trading near power transformers and blockage of staircases with goods, which he said leave little or no room for evacuation during emergencies.
The governor’s aide noted that Lagos State Government regularly conducts safety advocacy campaigns in markets, particularly during the dry season, to educate traders on fire prevention and safe practices.
He warned that portraying market fire incidents as deliberate acts against any ethnic group only fuels division and distracts from the real issues of safety compliance and enforcement.
