Abia State Governor, Alex Otti has commiserated with victims of the Aba fire incident that destroyed property worth millions of naira.
The governor, who was speaking when he paid an unscheduled visit to the site of the inferno in Aba South Local Government Area, described the incident as unfortunate.
He urged the victims to take heart and assured that government will help them reduce the effect of the loss they suffered, as well as support them secure alternative accommodation.
He also thanked God that no life was lost in the inferno.
Gov. Otti directed his aide on homeland security to carry out an investigation into what led to the inferno.
He stressed the need for every household to have a fire extinguisher, and directed that henceforth, there is going to be enforcement of compulsory fire extinguisher in all households.
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The governor further directed that an investigation be conducted to ascertain the inability of the fire service to respond to such an emergency.
This is contained in a statement issued on Friday, by Gov. Otti’s Chief Press Secretary, Ukoha Njoku Ukoha and made available to journalists in Umuahia.
Narrating their ordeal, the owner of the building, Mr. Vincent Uzuegbu, his family and a tenant in the building, Mr. Obinna Obi and his wife, said that they were asleep when the fire started.
According to them, they had gone to sleep on that Tuesday night, when they heard some uproar.
Upon opening the door, they saw the whole place covered with smoke and fire. They tried to get some of their property out but we’re unsuccessful.
The victims, who could not identify the cause of the fire outbreak, said that they lost everything and appealed to the state government to come to their aid.
