Nigeria, Sept. 20 -- On Friday morning, nearly three days after flames tore through Emab Plaza on Lagos Island, smoke still rose from the building's charred skeleton.

A PREMIUM TIMES reporter, who visited the site on Friday, watched as a bulldozer from the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) growled through the wreckage, pulling down unstable walls as traders stood nearby, staring at what remained of their livelihoods.

The four-storey commercial complex, tucked behind Mandilas building on Taiwo Street, had become a graveyard of fabric, clothes, and shoes - all reduced to ash.

How it began Floodwaters covered the narrow streets around the plaza on Tuesday. Many traders stayed back in their shops, waiting for the water to re...