The 14 traders were victims of the fire disaster that occurred during the day on April 6 at Shonola Street, Aguda-Ogba, Lagos State.

They made the appeal in a letter addressed to the   chairman of Ojodu Local Government, a copy of which was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria.

The letter of appeal was signed by Ogoegbunam Abuadinma, the counsel to the victims of the fire.
The letter said: “Goods and properties worth N81.7 million were lost to the fire incident that occurred on April 6 now referred to as `Black Saturday Disaster.”

Abuadinma said that the traders were shocked to witness their entire shops engulfed by the inferno which totally razed down the entire sprawling business premises within the LGA’s jurisdiction.

He added that the affected traders could hardly feed their families and dependants and were also unable to pay their children’s school fees because of the unfortunate incident.

It added:  “The real cause of the fire incident that caused the quantifiable damage and comprehensive loss of my clients’ goods and properties remains a mystery till date and indeed highly incomprehensible.

“Therefore, we urge the chairman of Ojodu LGA to use his good offices to placate the sufferings of our clients.
“Their livelihood usually comes from their respective trade that has now crashed completely.”
Abuadinma said that all the affected victims were loyal citizens of the state as they exercised their civic responsibilities at the last general elections.

He added that they had always paid their taxes as and when due to the state tax net.

The counsel in the letter appealed to the Lagos State and Ojodu Local Governments to assist the victims of the fire on compassionate grounds to recoup their losses.

He assured the state and the local governments that the traders, their families and other citizens would continue to be law abiding.

Credits: theeagleonline.com.ng