Victims of the fire which razed huge swaths of the Ogbeogonogo Market in Asaba, Delta State, have had cause to smile, after the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management & Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Farouq, on Wednesday, offered them succour, courtesy of the Federal Government.
A statement by the ministry’s Deputy Director (Information) Rhoda Iliya quoted the minister as telling the traders to be consoled by the fact that no life was lost in the inferno.
The minister expressed deep shock over the incident while commiserating with traders who lost wares in the fire.
Among relief materials given to the traders were 120 pieces of sewing machines, 100 pieces of hair dryers, 80 pieces of grinding machines, 625 bags of 12.5kg rice, 625 bags of 12.5kg maize and 625 bags of 25kg beans.
Others included 31 bags of 20kg salt, 63 kegs of vegetable oil, 85 cartons of tin tomatoes, 56 cartons of seasoning, 1,875 bags of cement and 300 bundles of roofing sheets.
Also delivered were 625 bags of 3 inches nail, 750 pieces of ceiling boards and 300 packets of zinc nails.
It quoted the minister as expressing her appreciation to the state governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, for providing immediate relief.
It said that the minister also commended the officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for their prompt response and the immediate activation of the Crisis Response Protocol, adding that the ministry would support efforts to ascertain the cause of the fire.
“The Ministry, in consultation with relevant agencies and stakeholders, is evolving new strategies for an ‘All-Hazard Approach’ that will prioritise fire prevention and mitigation to avert these fire incidents,” Farouq was further quoted as saying.
Delta special duties commissioner Pirah Omamofe, who led the minister and her team through the burnt market, thanked the federal government for the prompt response, urging the minister to consider more support for persons affected by other disasters.
The inferno, which gutted the market on Tuesday, June 2, reduced it to ashes.
No life was lost as the market had been under lock and key since the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic in the country.
