Former Vice President and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar expresses deep sadness over the gas factory fire in Nnewi, Anambra State, which claimed scores of lives and destroyed properties.
In a press statement released by his media office in Abuja on Saturday, 26 December, the former Vice President says that the accident is the more agonizing because it came at a time when the victims like other Nigerians were looking forward to celebrating with their families and friends at the Yuletide and ‘Eid-el-Maulud celebrations.
He recalls that Nnewi in Anambra State has recently been growing as a busy and dynamic commercial and industrial enclave boosting the economy of the nation and providing employment for its teeming population.
According to him, the economic progress being witnessed in the area is one that every patriotic Nigerian and the Federal Government wishes and supports for other towns in the country. Therefore, he says the unfortunate and grim gas fire accident should not be allowed to dampen the enthusiasm and entrepreneurial drive of the people towards industrialization and progress. Rather, he calls on the state and local governments, business community, and entrepreneurs in the area to take the issue of industrial safety and accident prevention and management seriously.
The Turaki Adamawa notes that accidents like the one that took place at the Inter Corp Oil Limited gas facility is a fact of life in industrial and industrializing societies and calls for more vigilance and readiness among agencies in the emergency sector of the economy.
The former Vice President extends his heartfelt condolence to the families and relations of the victims, the Anambra State government and people, and Nigerians at large. He prays for the peaceful repose of the soul of the victims and expressed the hope that such a gruesome accident would not happen again.
