Stakeholders in Lagos State have called for stricter enforcement of fire safety regulations, improved market infrastructure and compulsory fire insurance for traders following reports that 1,685 fire incidents in the state claimed 133 lives and destroyed property worth billions of naira in 2025.
The calls were made at the premiere of Burning Point: Inside Lagos’ Fires, an investigative documentary produced by CBI News, where government officials, market leaders and other participants highlighted the need to address the causes of fire outbreaks and strengthen emergency response systems.
The Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat, represented by the Director-General of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, said the government had expanded its firefighting capacity but emphasised that preventing outbreaks required stronger public compliance and awareness.
Hamzat said the number of fire stations in the state had increased from 14 in 2019 to 29, while 62 new vehicles had been procured across different operational categories to support firefighting, rescue and emergency response.
He added that the government recruited 685 personnel between 2019 and 2026 and supported local and international training to improve their technical capacity.
However, he stressed that additional equipment and personnel alone could not eliminate fire disasters, urging property owners, businesses and facility managers to maintain safe electrical installations, provide accessible escape routes and comply with fire safety requirements.
“The best fire incident is the one prevented. The best fire fought is the one prevented,” he said.
Hamzat called for greater cooperation among government agencies, businesses, property owners, communities and the media, adding that investigations into major fire incidents should establish their causes and identify measures to prevent recurrence.
Traders seek compulsory insurance
President of the Ndigboamaka Progressive Market Association, Chinedu Ukatu, said compulsory fire insurance, safer electrical installations and improved market infrastructure were necessary to protect traders and their investments.
He explained that traders who lost their goods in fire outbreaks often remained burdened by loans obtained to finance their businesses.
“A trader who borrowed N20 million to do business. He bought goods. He sells in shops. One spark in the night, everything is gone. He goes back to zero,” he said.
Ukatu urged the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and Lagos State Government to collaborate with market associations to make fire insurance compulsory for shops.
He said market leaders had struggled to enforce insurance independ
