This is just as 450 shops, 30 offices, two hotels, and five restaurants were destroyed by the impact of the fire which affected the 14-storey building.

The Lagos State Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service disclosed that careless welding during the installation of a power generator on the second floor of the Mandilas building in Lagos led to the fire incident.

The fire reportedly started from the first floor of the building and spread to the seventh floor.

Farinloye stated that, “The impacted traders are estimated to accommodate about 6,700 traders, 450 shops, 30 offices, two hotels, and five restaurants, according to the Iya Oja of the  Atunwase International Market Mandilas General, Alhaja Adeniji Rashidat, who briefed the assessors.

“The fire which started at about 0011 hours began at the first floor where an alleged wielding activity was going on.

“It was alleged that the people around did not notice the fire until it was too late before the fire service was contacted. The fire, also, spread to surrounding market stalls at the Atunwase International Market with equal extensive damage as the main complex.”

Meanwhile, our correspondent who monitored activities at the scene of the fire observed some of the traders lamenting the huge losses they incurred from the fire incident.

Some of the traders were reluctant to speak to the media, stressing that they were not in the right frame of mind as a result of the loss they suffered in the incident.

However, some who spoke disclosed that the loss could not be quantified as many traders had reportedly lost their life savings to the fire.

A trader who identified herself as Sewa lamented the impact of the fire which she claimed had left her devastated.

“I sell clothes in this building and my goods were affected. I can’t even quantify the loss that I have incurred from this incident. I am devastated at this moment. Do you know how many goods have been lost to this fire?” Sewa asked.

Another trader who did not want his name in print disclosed that the lack of access road for the firefighters’ truck to access the incident scene earlier led to the devastating effect of the fire.

The source said, “The fire started from a welding point where construction was going on to attach a new structure to the building. When we noticed the fire and the fire service came, they could not access the main area where the fire was at its highest because the road leading to the spot where the fire started was narrow.

“By the time they were able to contain the fire, it had spread to the 7th floor with several goods getting destroyed inclusive of mine. I cannot even be talking about the loss. One of us, Agu, lost goods worth almost a billion naira. He owns an entire floor in this building. His (Agu) brother’s store was also affected.”

Also, a trader identified as Badmus, in a WhatsApp status sighted by our correspondent, disclosed that he lost goods estimated at N200m to the fire incident.

The message read in part, “We were deeply affected by the fire as I lost all the stock in my warehouse of more than 7,000 shoes estimated to be N200,000,000 and all the documents in my office including deals I’ve not concluded yet.

“I am someone who believes everything happens for a reason, but this is a lot to comprehend. Will Badmus Store bounce back? Sure, it will, if our customers stick with us.”

Emergency responders including men of the Lagos Fire Service, Police, Lagos State Building Control Agency, and Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps were sighted at the scene of the incident controlling the situation and movement around the building.

Also, at the exercise held within the premises of Ataoja School of Science, Osogbo, the trainees were engaged in the area of inter-agencies relations, to better position them for the task of assisting in crime prevention.

Addressing the participants at the closing session of the training on Monday, the National Provost, NHFSS, Kehinde Ogunlade, harped on the importance of training for security volunteers to keep them abreast of their duties.

Speaking in a similar vein, Osun Commander of the NHFSS, Ahmed Nureni, said the participants were trained by officers from the Osun State Command of Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Security, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the Immigration Service.

Nureni further said, “We have 1,200 hunters that came from all parts of Osun State for the 4-day training. Officers of the Nigeria Police Osun State Command, NSCDC, DSS, and the Immigration Service were here to train our men on their responsibilities.

“The participants were separated into different groups and the trainers took them through different aspects of our job.

“More importantly, they were trained on how to relate with conventional security organizations to achieve maximum results in keeping the environment safe for residents of the state. We also had training on intelligence gathering.

“We hope to keep doing this regularly. It is part of our plans for hunters in this state. We know every part of the state and the forests around. We have resolved to contribute our quota by assisting conventional security organizations but we can’t do it without acquiring relevant knowledge.”

Armed security men stormed the church during mass, shot sporadically into the air before whisking Nwosu away.

IPOB in a statement released by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, said if not for the fighting spirit of Nwosu’s family, the Uzodinma-led government would have blamed its militia wing, Eastern Security Network (ESN), for the “abduction of the politician.”

“We the global movement and family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) condemn the abduction of Uche Nwosu in the church.

This is another vindication that IPOB and Eastern Security Network (ESN) are not responsible for the numerous attacks, abductions/kidnappings in Imo State contrary to false accusations and propaganda by Hope Uzodinma and his co-travellers.

The incident has also further confirmed the complicity of Hope Uzodinma and the All Progressives Congress party in the insecurity going on in Imo State and the South-East region.

But for the dexterity and fighting spirit of Nwosu’s family and associates, Hope Uzodinma, his co-travellers and some infamous media houses would have, as usual, pointed accusing fingers at ESN, IPOB and unknown gunmen. But God Almighty, Chukwu Okike Abiama, has exposed them this time around.

It will not be a surprise if by tomorrow, Hope Uzodinma fingers Uche Nwosu and his in-law Rochas Okorocha as the sponsors of IPOB, ESN, unknown gunmen and insecurity in Imo State. We know his antics and such options may not be out of the table.

For the umpteenth time, no single individual can sponsor IPOB. We are a global movement and millions of our family members home and abroad remain the source of our sponsorship.

We have never hidden this fact because we are not a secret or terror organisation. IPOB is well grounded and we don’t need any Okorocha, Uche Nwosu or Hope Uzodinma or any politician for that matter to sponsor us. We have no dealings with corrupt politicians and people with questionable source of wealth.

It’s now transparently obvious to all who the masterminds of the abductions/killings of many traditional rulers and religious leaders including politicians in Imo State and other parts of South East are.

It is also now clear who created unknown gunmen to demonise and implicate IPOB and ESN operatives.”the statement read