The governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, on Wednesday cut short his campaign to visit the Akere spare parts market in Olodi Apapa, Whirlwindnews is reporting.
His visit according to report is to sympathise with the traders, who lost goods worth hundreds of millions of naira, in the early morning fire, believed to have been ignited by thugs.
The fire is coming against the mounting apprehension, which has engulfed Lagos state in recent times.
The tension heightened since Peter Obi, the LP presidential candidate, beat Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, former Governor of Lagos State and presidential candidate of the APC, in the February 25 presidential election.
Though, Tinubu was eventually declared overall winner of the presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The LP candidate, sporting his trademark white attire caftan and a cap to match, arrived the scene of the inferno to the warm embrace of a cheering crowd and left a donation of N15million as a token to comfort the traders, while promising that such acts of brigandage would be a thing of the past in his government.
Reports say the hoodlums before setting the market located at Akere a suburb of Ajegunle in the Apapa area of Lagos State, killed a 65-year-old security guard in the market, whose lifeless body, was reportedly recovered near the scene of the incident.
Director of Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service (LSFRS) Adeseye Margaret, while confirming the incident, said in a statement on Wednesday, that the fire started at about 3:28 am, adding that the Ajegunle Fire Station was the first respondent.
Adeseye, who said that the cause of the fire would require an investigation to account for the number of lockup shops and wares lost, said: “Upon arrival, it was discovered that rows of shops that traded in auto spare parts were well alight that led to Sari-Iganmu and Ilupeju Fire Crews of the Agency joining up to subdued the raging Fire and salvage a nearby major market Petroleum Filling Station with a fully loaded 33,000 liters PMS tanker amongst other adjoining buildings.”
