It was a case of double tragedy for indigenous manufacturer, Erisco Foods, makers of Tomato paste as goods worth about N450 million were destroyed in an inferno Tuesday in its Lagos warehouse.
The company had been threatening to relocate from Nigeria to China or Kenya where forex access, according to the company is seamless.
Mr. Tokunbo Agbede, the company’s General Manager said on Tuesday in a Press Conference that the cause of the fire which happened about 6 a.m. on Monday at the Eleganza Warehouse of the company had yet to be ascertained.
He said that investigation into the incident was ongoing by the Nigerian Police and the Lagos State Fire Service.
Agbede said “The fire is a colossal loss to the company at a time when we are trying to wind down production in Nigeria.
“The destruction of our raw materials will not have been much if government agencies had supported us with foreign exchange and favourable business environment.
“As it, most of the raw materials were destroyed because they were lying in the warehouse unused with other tomato paste that has yet to be sold.”
