Calls to rebuild Ifelodun market

The Lagos state government has been called upon to commence the reconstruction of Ifelodun Plank Market which was gutted by a late night inferno on 7 March.

The timber market's chairman Alhaji Musa Akinbo has urged the state government to collaborate with Agboyi-Ketu local government development council to rebuild the razed market located in Demurin, Ketu in north-east Lagos.

Some local traders have alleged government collusion in the blaze, claiming that the market’s security guards were absent when the fire broke out. In recent years there has been a dispute between the traders and the local government over the ownership of the land.

Exactly a month later after the Ifelodun market was burnt down, the Alade market on Allen Avenue in Ikeja was also gutted by fire, reportedly sparked by a power surge.

The incident is being investigated by the state government which has closed down numerous markets in recent months.

In February it shut the city's Ladipo auto spare parts market – reputedly the largest market of its kind in west Africa – over cases of "environmental nuisance and gross abuse of public infrastructure and utilities” and in January it closed the fruit and vegetable markets at Mile 12 and Jakande (popularly known as Ketu), over failure to comply with the state's sanitation laws.

In 2007 the busy Tejuosho clothes market was burnt down, displacing 220 traders, before being redeveloped by the state government in a lengthy scheme mired in controversy and financial difficulties.