Ajase-Ipo Volleyball Club (AVC) Head Coach Afelele Taiye Hassan has expressed sympathy to the Olupo of Ajase-Ipo, Oba Ismail Yahaya Alebiosu, and the entire community over the inferno that destroyed shops and property worth millions of naira in the early hours of August 20.
Afelele, while speaking with newsmen in Ajase-Ipo, described the incident as “painful and disheartening.”
He added that Kara Market is not just a commercial hub but a lifeline for many families in the town and beyond.
He urged traders and residents to always take safety precautions to avert a recurrence of such disasters.
He also commended the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, for his swift response and immediate visitation to the community after the fire.
According to him, the governor’s prompt intervention not only reassured the victims but also demonstrated genuine leadership and empathy in moments of crisis.
“On behalf of myself and Ajase-Ipo Volleyball Club (AVC), I sympathise with our royal father, the Olupo of Ajase-Ipo, and the affected traders. We are confident that with the governor’s timely support and the resilience of our people, Ajase-Ipo will bounce back stronger,” Afelele stated.
He further appealed to government agencies, philanthropists, and well-meaning Nigerians to rally around the victims by providing relief materials and financial support to cushion their losses.
The fire outbreak, which started around 1:35 a.m., razed about 28 shops, with officials of the Kwara State Fire Service confirming that negligence from an improperly extinguished cooking fire triggered the inferno.
Swift response from firefighters, however, saved the rest of the market from total destruction.
