Ikpeazu doles out cash gifts to 67 victims of Aba arson

Ikpeazu doles out cash gifts to 67 victims of Aba arson

…promises to support landlords in rebuilding their houses

The governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu on Thursday at the Aba Governor’s Lodge doled out cash to 67 victims of alleged arson at Oko – Jumbo/Ntueke, a suburb of Aba, the commercial city of the state.

Governor Ikpeazu, who also promised to help affected landlords of the incident to rebuild their houses, presented cash gifts to the affected tenants through the Commissioner for Information, Chief John Okiyi Kalu.

Speaking during their visit, some of the victims including Mrs. Ijeoma Mba, Mr. Dickson Nwogu, Dr. Robbison Elendu, Mrs. Blessing James and the zonal chairman, Mr. Onyemachi Onyekwere, revealed that the level of concern shown by the Governor through financial support and other means was great relief to them from their trauma arising from the fire incident.

They further appealed to other philanthropists to come to their aid as they are still in need of shelter over their heads and expressed hope that other promises of the Governor would soon be fulfilled.

Addressing the victims, the Commissioner for Information, Chief John Okiyi Kalu, said that Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu’s administration is so passionate about their plight and will further assist within its powers to ameliorate their sufferings.

The affected victims were accompanied on the visit by their landlords and some stakeholders from Aba South LGA including Honorable Ebere Clinton.

In another development, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Aba Branch, has said that it will leave no stone unturned until everyone involved in committing the arson is made to face the law.

The NBA disclosed this when it’s Fact-Finding Committee visited Okojombo, Degema and Umuosi streets in Ndiegoro,  to ascertain the level of damages done on the residents and to also hear the account of the incident from the affected residents.

The resident and victims told the NBA  that the burning and looting of their houses were orchestrated by policemen from Ndiegoro Police Division, led by one police officer they identified as Inspector John.

After seeing the burnt buildings, the destroyed property and hearing from residents, the Chairman of the NBA Fact-Finding Committee, Barr. Victor Chima Nwugo, described the scene as pathetic but said that NBA will not conclude its findings until it hears from the police to get their own angle of the story.

In his words: “You know lawyers have a social responsibility for the society. So, we cannot keep quiet when people’s lives and property are being destroyed. 

“As the Social Crusaders of the society, we owe it as a duty to ensure that those who foisted destruction of property, those who foisted killings of people must be brought to book and then recompense done. 

“You cannot just come and destroy people’s properties and asked them to go to hell. As a body of lawyers, we’ll resist it. 

“We’ll not say our findings for now because we owe it as a duty to hear from the police. From their own angle (residents), they’ve told their stories and we’ve visited the scene.

“One thing that is certain is that we saw burnt buildings, we saw the destroyed property, we saw people who were brutalized, but we cannot conclude until we hear from the police and after hearing from the police, we’ll write our report and submit to the NBA Aba branch that sent us.”

On his personal impression about the scene, Nwugo said, “For me, my impression of the scene reminds me of stories of centuries ago when Babylon invaded the land of Judah and destroyed people and their property and took some into captivity. 

“It also reminds me of when Boko Haram invaded Baga Community in Borno State. It also reminds of the Biafra vs Nigeria Civil War and how people were killed and children separated from their parents. 

“It’s a sad feeling that a man who has left his house in the morning will come back in the evening and with no single property left. And it is so sad when they are saying that it was perpetrated by the police. It’s unthinkable. 

“For us, we’ve not concluded until we hear from the police. We assure everyone that we’ll write our report and we’ll defend our report. The decision NBA will take will lie majorly on what we’ve discovered. 

“NBA is a body that is there to check the society. No matter how highly placed anybody is, the law is above everybody. The law is lifted above everybody in this country no matter who the person is.

“Any person who has a hand in this destruction, of course, NBA will make sure that the person is punished and recompense paid to the victims. That’s our position.”

Meanwhile, the Secretary of the Fact-Finding Committee, Barr. Victor Onweremadu said that the NBA had already written and sent a letter to the Abia State Police Command to get a date when they will also visit them to get their own side of the story.