Fire razes shops in Ondo, destroys properties worth millions

A mid-night inferno yesterday gutted a shopping complex in Ayede-Ogbese, a sleepy community in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State, destroying properties worth millions of naira.

The fire, which completely razed the shopping complex, reportedly started in the night and lasted for hours before it was eventually brought under control.

According to an eye-witness, the residents of the area heard a combustible sound and moved out only to discover that a shopping complex located in the area was being razed by fire.

The residents of the area, however, prevented the spread of the fire to the residential houses in the neighbourhood.

One of the victims of the fire outbreak, Mr Sikiru Raheem said he was devastated when he heard of the ugly incident, adding that he ensured that all electric appliances were switched off before he left the shop the previous day.

Raheem, who said he relocated to the shop recently, said he had lost all his equipment to the fire incident.

It was, however, gathered that there was no electricity supply in the town at the time the incident occurred.

He appealed to the state government, institutions, philanthropic organizations and individuals to come to his rescue as the fire had burnt down all he had worked for in the past fourteen years.

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