A late night inferno has gutted Sabo market in Oyo State.
It was learnt that goods and property worth billions of naira were destroyed in the incident.
The fire, reportedly started around 10:00 p.m., and spread to most parts of the market.
Some traders, whose shops and valuables were caught in the fire, were said to be lamenting and counting their losses.
The cause of the fire incident was attributed to a nearby dump site.
Fire fighters had arrived the scene and efforts to put out the fire were ongoing.
The Chief Fire Officer in Oyo State, Mr. Moshood Adewuyi confirmed the incident on Wednesday morning.
Adewuyi said eight shops were gutted by the fire.
He attributed the cause of the fire incident to a nearby dump site.
“Yes. Yes. It is true. We were called around 30 minutes to 11pm. We went to the scene of the incident. You know our office is very close to Sabo.
“Immediately they got there, they discovered that some shops were still intact and they tried as much as possible to cut the spread.
“About eight shops were affected. And what were discovered in those shops were Cocoa, cashew nuts and some baskets. Those are the major things.
“So, it was only eight shops that were affected. Let us now go to the main cause, the people there, having known that they have property worth millions of naira, they also have a dump site, they burnt it and left.
“They set it ablaze but did not wait to monitor it. These are some of the mistakes that our people make.
“I believe that there should be a distance between your shop and dump site; they set the dump site ablaze and went home. It was the fire from the dump site that spread to those shops,” he disclosed.