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… Fire Service Laments Obstruction by ‘Onlookers taking Videos’
By Amos Odhe, Yenagoa
A tanker fire near Okaki Junction at Akenfa axis of Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, has destroyed shops and homes, though no life was lost in the inferno.
One of the victims of the inferno, Smart Okhwo, an indigene of Ofoni community in Sagbama Local Government Area of the state said, he got a call that his house was on fire.
Okhwo said his house, including a POS kiosk his son was operating, were already destroyed by the time the Fire Service truck got there.
He said goods belonging to some of the tenants who had shops in his house were burnt down, as he praised those who carried out rescue efforts before the arrival of the fire service.
According to him, the fire started when the tanker caught fire and spread to the surrounding houses and shops, while he blamed the police for the incident.
He said: “The serious thing is that it was caused by police. Now, they have ran away. They were stopping the tanker by using a keke to block the way.
“The driver tried to dodge the keke so he climbed the pavement. That was when the tanker did a summersault. The next thing was fire.
“That was how it happened. So, government should come and intervene especially for my tenants and those people who are doing business. During the packing of the things, you know how Nigeria is. Most of the people came to rescue the things, but a lot of property was lost.”
Another house owner, Dennis Godwin, from Delta State, said he travelled two days ago and got an urgent call to return because his house was on fire.
While expressing thanks to God that no life was lost, he also implored government to come to their aid saying “Government should do something.”
Another victim, a trader who did not identify himself, but lost his goods in the fire, said “All we need is justice.”
Nelson Meeting, a firefighter who led the fire crew, said they came as soon as they got the distress call, but other road users did not give them right of way despite the fact that they were using siren.
Meeting observed that onlookers who were taking videos of the fire did not give them enough room to work and called for a change while warning that radiation from phones was dangerous in such a situation.
“They don’t know that even videoing is dangerous because of the radiation from the phone. Next time, they should give way and allow firefighters to do their job. They should follow instructions from the firefighters,” Meeting stated.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Musa Mohammed, said it was not true that the policemen were the cause of the accident that led to the fire outbreak and that it was just an allegation.
Mohammed said the tanker failed its brake and the driver lost control and hit the keke, but the keke driver escaped and jumped into the nearby Epie Creek where he was later rescued.
