Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Monday, flew to Abuja to brief President Muhammadu Buhari and give situation report on the debilitating effects of the incident explosion that rocked Abule Ado in Amuwo Odofin local government area of Lagos State.
The trip to Abuja came hours after the governor led executive members of the Lagos State government to the site of the disaster.
Governor Sanwo-Olu met with President Buhari in his office at the Aso Villa in the afternoon.
The governor had promised to visit the president to let him know the extent of damage caused by the explosions.
Earlier in the morning, Governor Sanwo-Olu constituted a fact-finding committee, headed by the deputy governor Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, to immediately investigate the remote and immediate causes of the explosions.
The governor, who promised the State Government would unravel the root cause of the explosion, said that recommendations from the investigation would be implemented to prevent re-occurrence of the incident.
He said: “On behalf of the government, I commiserate with families that lost their loved ones, students that lost their teacher and everyone in this neighbourhood who lost their means of livelihood. My visit to the scene of the explosion this morning is not to apportion blame for the sad incident.
“We want to first express condolences to the families of our citizens that have lost their lives, and all our citizens that have their properties and goods destroyed extensively. I confess I have never seen any destruction of this magnitude before in the State. It is rather unfortunate.”
Sanwo-Olu described the level destruction in Abule Ado and Ado Soba as “monumental”, saying the resources to be appropriated in helping the victims to rebuild their lives were beyond what a single government could undertake on its own.
He said: “The process of rebuilding this place is beyond what the government, either at the national level or state, can also 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.
“Polaris Bank with the account number 4030017510, and name Abule Ado Emergency Relief Fund. Also, Zenith Bank, with the same account name the account number 1017184516 and Guaranty Trust (GT) Bank, with account number 0568615688. Well-meaning Nigerians and corporate organisations that wish to support us on this journey have any of these three banks to donate.”
The relief funds, Sanwo-Olu said, would help the Lagos government to offset the victims’ medical bills and re-settle displaced people before rebuilding activities start.
Governor Sanwo-Olu’s meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari to give situation report later was also to seek the Federal Government’s support and cooperation in dealing with the situation.
