Midnight fire outbreak destroyed more than 500 makeshift shops at Terminus Market in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs Joyce Ramnap confirmed the incident to newsmen yesterday in Jos.
Ramnap, who visited the scene, said the incident occurred at about midnight yesterday.
The commissioner promised that government would conduct an investigation to unravel the cause of the inferno.
“From eye witness report, particularly from the leadership of the market, we gathered that an electric spark may have caused the the fire outbreak.
“But we are not going to leave it at that, we will investigate to ascertain the root cause.
“This is unfortunate because more than 500 shops have been destroyed; this is a huge economic loss to the state,”she said.
Ramnap, who commiserated with the traders, however, called on residents to desist from spreading falsehood about the incident on the social media.
Chairman of the market, Mr Mustapha Ibrahim, who decried the huge loses incurred by the traders, called for government’s intervention to ameliorate the plight of the affected traders.
