Saraki visits Ilorin fire victims, pledges assistance

The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, Tuesday, commiserated with the victims of fire disaster in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, whose residential family compound was completely razed by an early morning inferno.

Fire had gutted about 42 rooms and 12 shops in the early hours of Monday at Olaoti Compound, Kankatu Area of Okelele in Ilorin, resulting in the destruction of other valuable property.

Saraki, who spoke through the Director General of Abubakar Bukola Saraki Mandate Constituency Office, Alhaji Musa Abdullahi, during a sympathy visit to the victims in Ilorin, described the incident as an act of God.

He admonished the victims of the fire disaster to take heart, and should not on the basis of the incident engage in blame game.

Saraki, however, promised to come to the aid of the victims, saying the destruction recorded was unprecedented.

The Senate President urged residents of the state to be safety conscious, saying some incidences were preventable.

“We are on this visit as directed by the Senate President to empathize and sympathize with the victims of this fire disaster. The damage caused by this incident was too huge and that was why the Senate President thought it imperative that we should visit and sympathise with them.

“We are here to assess the level of damages with a view to assisting them. As part of his usual kind gesture, I have every reason to believe that the Senate President will insha Allah come to the aid of the victims in the nearest future.

“Our advice to residents of this area and even the entire Kwarans is that they should be cautious of whatever activities they are doing; they should desist from indiscriminate activities such as dumping of waste in water channels and they should be cautious of electrical installations.

“They should make sure they employ the services of experts whenever they want to install electrical facility because the reason for this outbreak could be attributed to power upsurge”, Abdullahi said.

Responding on behalf of the victims, Alhaji Farouq Olaoti, expressed gratitude to the President of the Senate for delegating a team to sympathise with the victims of the disaster.

Olaoti, who thanked God that no life was lost to the incident, noted that the incident caught the victims unawares.

The ABS Director General was in company of stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the visit including Alhaji AbdulRaheem Olesin and Alhaji Sa’adu Ajelanwa among others.