Posted by Chinenye on Tue 11th Aug, 2026 - tori.ng
A major fire safety concern has emerged in Ilorin after authorities discovered that a vital fire station had been partly taken over and firefighting equipment stolen.
(Federal Fire Service. Photo by Punch News)
The Kwara State Fire Service has cautioned against further occupation and unauthorised conversion of its fire station located within Mandate Market, Adewole, Ilorin, warning that such encroachment threatens emergency response capabilities and endangers community lives and property.
The service released the warning following an inspection that revealed portions of the facility had been appropriated by unauthorised structures and unauthorised occupants.
The station had also experienced burglary, with firefighting equipment including a steel water reservoir tank reportedly stolen.
The Fire Service emphasised that the Mandate Market facility serves not merely the market itself but also extends protective coverage to neighbouring communities and commercial districts including Adewole, Warrah, Oloje and Oko-Olowo.
The station's strategic location enables firefighters to deliver rapid response during emergencies within its service corridor, a capability particularly crucial during the initial stages of fire incidents when swift intervention determines the extent of destruction.
The alert follows a midnight fire at Mandate Market months earlier that consumed 24 shops, an incident demonstrating how impediments to emergency access compromise firefighting effectiveness.
During that incident, responders encountered significant difficulty in positioning fire appliances sufficiently close to the affected location due to obstructed access routes.
The service stressed that firefighting trucks require clear, unobstructed pathways to approach fire scenes as closely as operationally safe.
Blocked routes resulting from shops, structures or encroachments create delays that prove particularly dangerous in market environments where combustible materials accumulate and commercial spaces cluster densely, allowing fires to propagate rapidly across adjoining businesses.
The Fire Service traced the Mandate Market facility's history to the 1980s, when the location hosted a joint trade fair attracting traders nationwide before the fire station's construction in 1989.
The facility was subsequently transferred to state fire service administration for emergency operations.
For decades, it has constituted essential state emergency infrastructure, serving a function as vital currently as when initially established.
The service warned all persons, groups and entities engaged in, considering or encouraging station encroachment, unauthorised building, occupation, conversion or access route obstruction to cease such activities.
It stressed that the facility must remain operational as a fire station, with no commercial undertaking temporary or permanent permitted to compromise its emergency function.
The agency pledged not to tolerate any development threatening firefighter safety, appliance operation or public welfare during emergencies.
The Fire Service appealed to authorities and stakeholders to preserve facility integrity, eliminate existing encroachments and maintain unrestricted emergency access pathways.
While acknowledging market traders' economic significance, the service maintained that commercial operations must coexist with adequate safety provisions.
It characterised a functional fire station within a major market as protective infrastructure rather than commercial opportunity, arguing that compromising an existing station through encroachment undermines broader efforts across the state to strengthen market fire safety infrastructure following devastating market fire incidents.
The agency reiterated that safeguarding the Mandate Market station transcends government property protection, extending to trader, resident and business security throughout the station's response territory.
It reaffirmed commitment to life and property protection and pledged sustained efforts, operating within its mandate and coordinating with relevant authorities, to secure firefighting infrastructure statewide.
The service concluded that emergency infrastructure preservation supersedes temporary economic considerations.