The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said about 1,200 artisans who specialise in assorted fabric making have become jobless.
The NEMA in a post-disaster loss and needs assessment confirmed that over 1,600 industrial, weaving and straight sewing machines were lost in a mid-afternoon fire disaster that struck the popular Tejuoso Market on Tuesday.
The cause of the fire cannot be confirmed, but some people claimed that it was caused by someone trying to fill up a working generator which caught fire and could not be brought under control.
The Chairman of the Traders, Comrade Godwill Okorie, contested this saying the way the fire started and spread across the market within minutes made him dispute the general rumour.
Okorie appealed to loan facilitators to kindly consider their situations and grant them more loans to enable them to start off and redeemed other outstanding loans.
While consoling the traders, the Director General of NEMA, Alhaji Mustapha Habib Ahmed represented by Ibrahim Farinloye, urged them not to see the situation as a temporary setback but as a trial that would usher in greater success.
