LAGOS State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced yesterday that he had set up a N2 billion naira relief fund for the victims. Disclosing this when he visited the scene of the explosion, he said the state government would release N250 million into the funds to provide succour for those affected.
“I will confess that I have never seen anything of this magnitude before. It is like a war zone,” the governor said. He said: “The process of rebuilding this place is beyond what the government, either at the national level or state, can undertake on its own. Given the level of destruction, I am immediately setting up what I have called an Abule Ado/Ado Soba Emergency Relief Fund. It is a N2 billion relief fund and the state government will immediately be putting N250 million in that fund. Three banks have opened accounts for the fund.
“Setting up this fund is to give everybody the opportunity to be part of rebuilding this place and to be able to donate into it. The utilisation of funds, which will be headed by the deputy governor, will also be part of the responsibility that the fact-finding committee will be saddled with. To show our commitment to helping the victims recover, we have three bank account numbers already. The accounts are: Polaris Bank, 4030017510; Zenith Bank, 10171845716; and GT Bank, 0568615688.”
Sanwo-Olu also visited President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja and briefed him about the scale of the tragedy.Disclosing the outcome of the meeting, he said: “I had a very rare opportunity to brief Mr. President about the very unfortunate pipeline explosion in Lagos State. Mr. President was very gracious to receive me and asked me what had happened.
“I was able to show him pictorially the extent and the level of the destruction. It is a very unfortunate incident. It is not something that anyone could have imagined. You needed to be there to see the level of destruction.”
He said Buhari was interested and was looking forward to the findings of a committee set up by the Lagos State government on the disaster.
The Guardian
