The National Emergency Management Agency has disclosed that two separate fire incidents razed no fewer than 126 shops in Chanchaga Local Government Area, Niger State.
The fires, which occurred on Sunday and Monday, affected the Panteka Gwari Market and Tunga Business Area, leaving goods worth millions of naira destroyed.
In a post-disaster assessment shared on its official X page on Wednesday, NEMA confirmed that while the incidents caused significant property damage, no lives were lost.
“The Minna Operations Office of the National Emergency Management Agency carried out a post-disaster assessment of fire incidents at two locations in Chanchaga Local Government Area, Niger State,” the agency stated. “The incidents occurred on the 15th and 16th of December 2024, affecting the Panteka Gwari Market and the Tunga Business Area, respectively.”
According to NEMA’s update, the fires destroyed goods including furniture materials, generators, aluminium windows, shoes, and iron scraps, among other items.
The agency estimated the losses to run into millions of naira.
“Over 126 shops were affected, with losses including furniture materials, aluminium windows, generators, shoes, iron scraps, and more,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, this is not the first disaster to strike the state recently. On September 9, a tragic petrol tanker explosion in Agaie Local Government Area, which claimed 48 lives.
The victims, burnt beyond recognition, were laid to rest in a mass burial.
The Niger State Emergency Management Agency’s Director-General, Abdullahi Baba-Arab, confirmed that the collision between a petrol tanker and a truck carrying travelers and cattle from Kano State led to the devastating explosion.
