Edo’s Harvest Of Fire Outbreaks: Obaseki’s government, APC in verbal war
The frosty relationship between the government of Edo State under Governor Godwin Obaseki and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) has continued after a late evening fire outbreak penultimate Tuesday at the popular Lagos Street Market led to a war of words between the two political foes.
While the state government pointed accusing fingers at the APC as being responsible for the fire outbreak and the previous five in the last six years that have gutted various markets in the state capital, the APC accused the government of negligence and insensitivity to the plight of the people.
The government specifically called on the police to invite the state chairman of the APC, Col David Imuse (rtd), and the Chairman, Edo State Publicity Committee of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, John Mayaki, for questioning.
In the last six years, at least five different markets have been destroyed by fire and they have remained in different states of disrepair while, in some cases, traders rebuilt the markets themselves.
Some of the markets include Uwelu Market, which is the biggest spare parts market in Edo, Ekiosa Market, Santana Market, Oliha Market and an extension of the same Lagos Street Market directly opposite the Oba Market.
Penultimate Tuesday’s fire
Goods worth millions of naira were consumed by a late evening fire that gutted a shopping mall in Lagos Street.
The Shopping Mall, which houses over 40 shops where cosmetics and kitchen utensils are sold, according to an eye witness, caught fire at about 7.30 pm owing to what is believed to be power surge.
An eye witness, Joseph Eboigbe, who is a dealer in cosmetics, said there was no power supply all through Tuesday until at about 7.00pm when power was restored with a high voltage and, by then, most of the shop owners had gone home.
He told Sunday Vanguard, “There was no light all through Tuesday, until at about 7.00 pm when light came, but then many people had gone home. At about 7.30pm, we started seeing smoke from one of the shops, before you know, there was this burst of flame and that was how everywhere caught fire, we had to call the fire service, who came, but before then most of the shops were already consumed. They saved the day, because they came with two vehicles and if it were not for their efforts the fire would have extended to other shops and houses there.”
A victim of the fire incident, 70 years old Paul Umoh, who said he had been in one of the shops that was gutted by fire since 1981 and deals in kitchen utensils, said he lost over N10 million in the incident.
He narrated, “I was around till 6.30pm before going home, I didn’t see any sign of fire. When I got home, I took my bath and was about to eat when I received a phone call that No 16 Lagos Street, where I have a shop is on fire. Before I could get to the place, the whole place was already gutted by fire. I was able to bring out some things, but those things were also damaged by the fire brigade people who stepped on them and damaged them.
He pleaded that the government should come to their aid as it is becoming very difficult to live as a result of the high cost of living.
APC reacts
Reacting to the incident, the APC called on market women, artisans and others to punish the Obaseki-led-PDP government with their votes.
In a statement released by Mayaki, he accused the Obaseki administration of “unconscionable negligence, especially on the issue of incessant fire incidents reducing people’s livelihoods and means of economic survival to ashes.”
He said, “Every December, innocent women and traders in Edo State are made to suffer the terrible tragedy of seeing their life investments, and possibly sole means of economic survival, destroyed by fire outbreaks enabled by the negligence and irresponsibility of the state government.
“What is most troubling is that these incidents have followed the same pattern within the life of the hapless Obaseki-administration, with no serious or proactive response from the government despite the heavy toll on the well-being of ordinary citizens, including market women who form the lifeblood of Edo State’s commerce.”
Mayaki questioned why the Obaseki-administration is eager to exact high taxes on the citizens without providing the requisite public services expected of any responsible government to the people.
He said, “It appears this administration, in keeping with the PDP’s approach of milking people and state without any tangible investment in public services and infrastructure, is only interested in raising and withdrawing taxes, without doing anything to help the people.” he said.
PDP hits back
Addressing a press conference on the matter, the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, called on the police to invite the leadership of the APC for question alleging that the fire incident was part of diversionary strategies ahead of the 2023 elections as he claimed that similar scenarios were experienced in the state capital during the build up to the 2020 governorship election.
He said, “Recall that prior to the 2020 gubernatorial election, Eki Osa, Santana and Oba Markets were set on fire.
“The Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC) has confirmed our strong suspicion that they are responsible or at least complicit in the Lagos Street fire of yesterday and similar fire incidents that have happened in eve or during electioneering campaigns season in the past, in our State.
“The coincidence of the timing of these unwarranted fires is cause for concern. The Edo State government strongly believes that the APC must be involved.
“Recall that prior to the 2020 gubernatorial election, Eki Osa, Santana and Oba Markets were set on fire as confirmed by the spokesman of the APC, John Mayaki.
“In fact traders in Ekiosa Market told journalists then that the fire was the handiwork of mischief makers, at a time the APC was aggressively looking for ways to blackmail Governor Godwin Obaseki and dent his high popularity ratings weeks before the election.
“It would interest you to know that since after the last gubernatorial election in Edo State, there hasn’t been any market fires.
“Now that elections are coming again, the APC has resorted to one of its devilish and inhuman tactics and has started with the Lagos Street fire incident.
“Burning down markets is not a way to resurrect a dead political party that has manufactured unprecedented levels of poverty for Nigerians.
“We want to warn them and their collaborators to desist from this life of crime. Arson is a crime punishable by jail time. Both sponsors and perpetrators are equally liable.”
Nehikhare said the current government has invested in the fire service more than any other government in terms of human development and vehicular provision “At least 40 went for training earlier this year for different levels of fire fighting services and they came back with very good recommendations from the institute they went to in Asaba and we are very pleased with what is happening but that does not impress APC, instead they are writing political things around as if they are laughing Edo people whose goods have been burnt.
Compensation, rebuilding
Nehikhare said, “A few weeks ago the market women who had their goods damaged especially in Ekiosa market through their association, there were some form of restitution made to them from the state government.”
On rebuilding the markets, he said “the designs are being worked out to match the new city master plan which we are planning and it will be done. For instance you know the Oba market is a very important market in Benin City not just for the nomenclature but also for the volume of commerce that take place there and the city has been expanding, the city has been growing and things are happening that we have remodel in line with modern market experiences the government is seriously working on that and very soon all these things will come to bare.”
Mixed reactions
Some leaders of traders unions in Benin City expressed mixed reactions on the actions the government has taken since the fire incidents of over five years.
The head of market women in Benin City, Madam Blacky Omoregie Ogiamie told Sunday Vanguard that the state government gave financial compensation to victims at Ekiosa market and that the state government has told her that they would begin the rebuilding of the markets from January 2023 but the chairman of traders union in Uwelu Spare parts Market, Uwa Collins said they never got anything from the state government and they have decided to rebuild the market after waiting for three years.
Madam Ogiamie said, “When the markets got burnt, the government compensated them but did not rebuild and they have told me that they want to do it now by January. They called me today (Thursday) saying that they want to start but I have to beg that they should be allowed to complete their trading this year. They want to start from Ekiosa, Oliha and Oba markets, they told me today but I begged that they should be allowed to finish their trading for the year so that we can announce to them that they should remove their things after the yuletide.”
But on the contrary, Collins said, “The truth is that they did not render any assistance to us, they did not support us with one kobo but we the union came together and resolved that three years after the incident and we didn’t hear from the government, we have to rebuild the market by ourselves and that is what we are doing there now. We are rebuilding the market without support from the government. There was no assistance rendered to even the traders whose goods were burnt by that fire incident, they did not get any assistance.”
-vanguard
