FG ASSESSES IMO ILLEGAL REFINERY INFERNO, PROMISES INTERVENTION TO VICTIMS

REPORTER: CHINAZO ILECHUKWU

The Federal Government is to provide relief to the victims of May 22, 2022 explosion at an illegal refinery located in Abaezi in Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouk, gave the indication in Owerri during an assessment visit of the fire disaster area in the state.

The visit was to condole with the government and people of Imo State over the fire disaster that claimed over one hundred lives at Abaezi in Ohaji Egbema Local Government Area as well as find ways of assisting the community who are predominantly farmers to get back their lives.

Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq noted that poverty and limited access to socio-economic opportunities had increased the vulnerability of communities thereby leading them to seek illegal and risky sources of income.

She said the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was working with its counterpart at the state to determine the impact of the disaster, noting that the Federal Government would make necessary intervention as soon as the assessment was concluded.

Hajiya Farouq whose address was read by the Director Relief and Rehabilitation (NEMA), Alhaji Alhasan Nuhu, noted that the inferno was avoidable and called on security agencies to collaborate with NEMA to end illegal crude oil refineries in the country.

The Commissioner for Petroleum Resources Imo State, Chief Goodluck Opiah, lamented that the fire had affected farmland and aquatic life in the community.

The State Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Rabi Ibrahim, said the remains of the unidentified victims had been given a mass burial, adding that some of the casualties were hunters who went to fend for themselves.