The fire department in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, has decried the destruction of its equipment worth N400-million, by hoodlums, who hijacked the peaceful #EndSARS protest in the area.
According to Okezie Uche, Aba zonal commander, Abia State Fire Service, hoodlums on October 21, 2020, burnt its remaining fire truck and destroyed other firefighting equipment in the station.
Recall that the Aba fire command lost one of its 2-fire engines in August 2020, following an attack by an angry mob in Ariaraia area of Aba, for allegedly responding late to a distress call.
Consequently, with the destruction of the remaining fire truck in Aba, touted as the commercial hub of the South-East and South-South regions of Nigeria, the city’s fire department has been rendered incapable of fighting any category of fire in the area.
“We are now in a precarious situation, as hoodlums that masqueraded as #EndSARS protesters have vandalised our station and destroyed our remaining fire truck.
“The fire truck destroyed by the hoodlums is estimated at N350 million and in all, we lost about N400 million to the attack.
“I am now telling Aba residents that the only fire truck that they have has been destroyed by hoodlums and so, Aba has no fire equipment to fight fire, when it occurs, especially as we enter the dry season,” Uche stated.
Eugene Eze Job, Abia State chapter chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), has also expressed shock over the awful level of damage at the Aba South Local Government headquarters, describing the act as unreasonable.
Eze Job advised youths in the state to resist being used by politicians to participate in activities that could bring the state backwards.
He thanked Governor Okezie Ikpeazu for approving a cleanup exercise in Aba and Umuahia to clear the streets of debris and encouraged transporters in the state to obey the curfew period, which according to him, are made for the safety of all.
