Fire Devastates Shops in Ogbomoso, Millions in Goods Lost as Fire Brigade Allegedly Fails to Respond

In the early hours of Tuesday, a destructive inferno ravaged at least five shops in the Oke-Owode area of Ogbomoso, Oyo state, resulting in the loss of goods worth millions of naira.

Among the affected establishments were two palm kernel processing plants, a business center, a furniture shop, a photo studio, and a fruit shop.

Victims of the fire expressed frustration at the lack of timely assistance from the local fire station, located approximately a kilometer away. According to Waliyat Mutiu, one of the affected individuals, they sought help from the fire station but were informed that the vehicle was not operational due to a fault.

As a result of the delayed response, an estimated N50 million worth of goods and properties, including containers and sheds, were consumed by the flames.

Mutiu recounted the devastating losses, including 30 drums of palm kernel oil valued at N200,000 each, an oil extracting machine worth N3 million, and numerous unprocessed palm kernels.

Efforts to extinguish the fire were made by sympathetic bystanders who fetched water from a distance, but unfortunately, little could be salvaged.

The owner of the furniture shop, Adewale Opeyemi, and the proprietor of the business center were not present at the scene, but their representatives lamented heavy losses of furniture items, machinery, computers, printers, and stationery wares.

While the cause of the fire remains unknown, investigations revealed a decline in firefighting capabilities in Ogbomoso since the retrieval of a firefighting vehicle during the administration of Governor Abiola Ajimobi, which was originally provided during the tenure of Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala.

Efforts to obtain comments from fire brigade officers at Oja’gbo were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.