*As SEMA begins impact assessment of destruction
The Benue State government Tuesday commiserated with the victms of the Oshigbudu tanker fire accident that killed 12 people and destroyed over 73 houses.
The state’s Deputy Governor, Engr. Benson Abounu, who led the state PDP Chairman, Sir John Ngbede and other top government officials from the area to Oshigbudu to assess the situation, expressed government’s sympathies to the entire Agatu people.
Engr. Abounu told the people that following the directive by Governor Samuel Ortom, the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) was directed to carry out a comprehensive audit of the damage done with a view to bringing immediate relief to those displaced by the fire which razed down over 73 houses.
The accident occurred on Sunday morning, when a tanker laden with diesel fell at the Oweto/Obagaji junction at Oshigbudu. The tanker caught fire after the crash with the content spilling out and spreading to adjoining houses and a nearby filling station, worsening the situation.
Responding on behalf of the people, the First Class Chief of Apa/Agatu Intermediate Traditional Area, HRH, Chief Baba Odangla and the Ada Agatu, Chief Godwin Onah, thanked the governor, his deputy and the stakeholders for their quick responses to the disaster.
They called for the establishment of a fire station in Agatu to respond to such emergencies when they occur.