The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says about 1,200 artisans specialising in assorted fabric making have been rendered jobless by the inferno that engulfed the Tejuosho Market on Tuesday.
NEMA’s director-general, Mustapha Ahmed, said this in a post-disaster loss and needs assessment report on Wednesday in Lagos.
Mr Ahmed was represented by Ibrahim Farinloye, the zonal coordinator of South-West NEMA.
He confirmed that over 1,600 industrial, weeping and straight sewing machines were lost in the mid-afternoon fire disaster that struck the popular market.
Mr Ahmed said the fire, which cause cannot be confirmed, is rumoured to have been caused by someone trying to fill up a working generator that caught fire along the line.
While consoling the traders, the director-general urged them not to see the situation as a temporary setback but as a challenge that would bring greater success.
The assessment revealed that about 150 lock-up shops with at least eight registered traders occupied each shop.
(NAN)
