The All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Oyo State, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, has committed N50m to support traders affected by the recent fire outbreak at Oranyan Market in Ibadan.
Alli disclosed the intervention in a post shared on his Facebook page on Friday, saying the donation was intended to provide immediate relief to traders who lost their businesses and livelihoods in the inferno.
He said the Director-General of his campaign, alongside the Deputy Director-General and other APC leaders, had visited the market to reassure the affected traders of the planned intervention.
“We had already made our position clear: ₦50 million has been committed to begin immediate relief for traders affected by the fire,” Alli said.
He added that the latest visit was intended to reinforce the commitment to the affected traders.
“Our team returned to the ground to reinforce that message: this commitment is real, the support is coming, and no trader who lost their livelihood will be left to rebuild alone,” he said.
Alli described the market as more than a place of business, saying its destruction had affected families who depended on the traders’ livelihoods.
“A market is more than a place of business. It is where families are fed, dreams are built, and hardworking people create a future for themselves and their loved ones,” he said.
He added, “To see all of that brought to ashes is painful.”
The APC candidate said the N50m intervention was only the beginning of his support for the affected traders.
“The ₦50 million is just the beginning. The presence is the promise. This is Oyo AHEAD in motion,” he said.
PUNCH Online had reported that hundreds of shops were destroyed in an early Monday morning fire at the popular Oranyan Market in Ibadan North-East Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The fire, which reportedly started around midnight, affected sections of the market occupied by traders dealing in gold, furniture, second-hand clothes and other goods.
An eyewitness, identified as Iya Alia, said nearly 300 shops may have been affected by the inferno.
“The fire started around midnight. I cannot be specific about that time. Those affected were gold sellers, furniture sellers, second-hand clothes sellers and many others. The shops affected were almost 300,” she said.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Fire Reforms and Chairman of the Oyo State Fire Services, Morof Akinwande, confirmed the incident but cautioned against putting a figure on the number of shops destroyed before a proper assessment.
He said the fire reportedly started in the middle of the market following an explosion, although it was yet to be established whether the explosion was caused by gas or another source.
Akinwande said the situation had been brought under control by 1am, preventing the fire from spreading further.
The Acting Governor of Oyo State, Abdulraheem Adebayo Lawal, had also expressed sympathy to the affected traders and residents, assuring them that the state government would support them.
“The State Government is already working closely with relevant emergency agencies to assess the extent of the damage and provide immediate relief to victims,” Lawal said.
He added that the government was committed to restoring the market and putting measures in place to prevent similar incidents.
The Oranyan Market fire came barely two days after another fire outbreak destroyed nine locked-up shops at the Nigerian Railway Shopping Complex along Aleshinloye Market in Ibadan South-West Local Government Area of the state.
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