Without directly inviting the Federal Government to wade in, the Lagos State government says the resources required to resettle victims and manage the scale of disaster triggered by Sunday’s explosion at Abule Ado are beyond one government.
Sanwo-Olu was at the explosion scene early Monday morning where he also announced a N2-billion relief fund and a donation of N250 million to immediately boost the fund.
“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,” the governor said.
Three banks have opened accounts for the fund.
The governor also constituted an investigative panel to unravel the remote and immediate cause(s) of the explosion, which the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) linked to a gas pipeline.
The investigative panel, according to Sanwo-Olu, will have not more than two weeks to do an extensive investigation and come up with its findings.
So far, the death toll in the explosion has climbed to 20 after three more bodies trapped under the rubble were pulled out Monday. Lagos State Emergency Management Authority (LASEMA) had on Sunday confirmed 17 people dead and 25 injured and taken to a hospital for treatment.
The committee will, also, based on its findings, recommend to the government what needs to be done to avert future occurrence of similar disaster. The committee headed by the deputy governor, Obafemi Hamzat, has commissioner for special duty as co-chairman.
Other members are the commissioners for education, finance, environment and water resources, permanent secretary; ministry of health, permanent secretary; works and infrastructure, Nigeria Police, senior special assistant on security and chairman of Amuwo Odofin Local Government.
Others are representative of the community development committees (CDC) and community development associations (CDA), representative of St. Bethlehem Girls College, which was reduced to rubble, commissioner for the ministry of physical planning, representative of the NNPC, national emergency management authority (NEMA) and two representative of the host community.
JOSHUA BASSEY
