By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), in a post-disaster loss and needs assessment, confirmed that about 1,200 artisans who specialise in assorted fabric making were rendered jobless in the mid-afternoon fire disaster that struck the popular Tejuoso Market on Tuesday, November 1.
The agency further noted that over 1,600 industrial, weaving, and straight sewing machines were lost in the inferno.
While the cause of the Tejuosho Market fire cannot be confirmed, speculations have it that it was caused by someone trying to fill up a working generator that gutted the fire and could not be controlled.
The Director of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Mrs Adeseye Magaret, confirming the incident, said the fire occurred at the clothing and tailoring materials section of the market.
“We received a distress call at 4:01 pm and our men from Ilupeju and Isolo Fire Stations, as well as the Federal Service from Ojuelegba led by ACFS Adebanjo, arrived at the scene,” she said.
On his part, the Chairman of the traders association in the market, Mr Godwill Okorie, argued that the way the fire erupted and spread to the whole market within minutes made him dispute the veracity of the rumour.
The chairman further appealed to loan facilitators to consider providing a moratorium to those who have taken loans, adding that they should also consider the calamities and grant them more loans to enable them to start and redeem all the loans.
While consoling the traders, the Director General of NEMA, Mr Mustapha Habib Ahmed, represented by Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, urged them not to see the situation as a temporary setback but as a trial that would bring greater success.
The assessment also revealed that about 150 lock-up shops with at least eight registered traders are using each shop.
Modupe Gbadeyanka