*Oton Iwuochang, Iwuokpom leaders solicit govt assistance

By CHIOMA ONUEGBU

OTON IWUOCHANG—VICTIMS of the recent separate fire inferno at Otong Iwuochang, a shanty- fishing settlement and Iwuokpom, both in Ibeno Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State have cried out to the relevant government agencies to come to their rescue.

Some of the over 1000 victims rendered homeless in the Otong Iwuochang incident are taking refuge in uncompleted buildings and others sheltered by Good Samaritans within and outside the community.

•One of the residential buildings gutted by fire at Iwuokpom Ibeno

A victim and boat operator, Mr. Bassey, told NDV that he had already gone to bed when the shout of fire by neighbors woke him up and he rushed out of his house only to find out that fire had engulfed almost all the houses.

Another victim, Anwing, a father of nine children while recounting his loss, said: “I lost many properties to the fire, my houses, sewing machines and fishing materials were burnt in the fire. The fire burnt my money too.”

Damage incalculable— Community leader
Chair of the community, Mr. John Eshiet, said: “The level of damage and what the victims are facing is immeasurable. The impact is very high, we are predominantly anglers here and the fishing equipment like fishing gears, outboard engines, paddles that we use to fish and earn a livelihood were lost in the inferno. Right now, they are relying on help from people that come to visit and sympathize with them.

“We, the community leaders have donated food items such as bags of rice, garri, and other items like clothing to them, but that cannot cushion the effect because of the number of persons, affected, an estimate of one thousand people, including children.”

NDV learned that the chair, Ibeno local government area, Hon Henry Ekpeukoh, visited the camp, last Friday, and later sent food items through an emissary to the victims, while the deputy governor sent representatives.

At Iwuokpom community, property owner and spare parts dealer affected by the fire, Elder Bassey Udua, lamented: “We did not know how the fire started. Nobody could explain or understand it. Apart from my spare parts shop, the fire razed belongings of my tenants in other shops, as well as the building inside where some tenants live. The fire was so serious that we could not remove anything. But I thank God that no life was lost.”

Continuing, he said: “Unfortunately there has been no government help and no fire service came when this happened. We only tried on our own to quench the fire with water and sand, but it did not help. Therefore, we lost everything. More than N15 million worth of goods was destroyed in my shop alone and to rebuild this entire place will cost not less than N20 million.”

We‘ve not seen any govt official since the incident- Iwuokpom
Village head of Iwuokpom, Obong Okon Sunday Akpanowong, who sympathized with the victims at both villages, however, blamed government and oil multinational, Exxon Mobil for alleged insensitivity to the plight of the people.

His words: “Mobil does not take good care of the environment of Ibeno. In their own facility, immediately they see any sign of fire, they will rush with their fire equipment to quench the fire but if it happens outside their jurisdiction, they do not do anything to help the people. Government too knows very well that Ibeno is a fishing community right from time immemorial, so their focus should have been to establish a well equipped fire service station here.

“We are not lazy people, we are great fishermen; we don’t depend on government job alone because it is not enough for everybody, so we should be encouraged. Since this fire incident, here in Iwuokpom, government has not come to sympathize with the victims. As the village head of Iwuokpom, I am still waiting for government to come and commiserate with them.”

Meanwhile, the lawmaker representing Ibeno/Esit Eket in the state House of Assembly, Hon Usoro Akpanusoh, last Tuesday, raised the matter on the floor of the House under matters of urgent public importance, expressing fear that the fire outbreaks were becoming a yearly occurrence in the area.

Reacting, the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Onofiok Luke, who sympathized with the victims on behalf of the House, called on the fire service to always live up to expectation by registering their presence in remote communities in the state, especially fishing settlements in order to avert such disasters in future.

Luke also directed relevant federal and state agencies like State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, and National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, to reach out to the affected areas immediately in order to cushion the effects of the disaster.