Ikeja Bomb Blast Victims Must Be Compensated.
Ten years ago in January 2002, Lagos witnessed an unprecedented death toll when bombs went off at the Ikeja Military Cantonment and sent stampeding residents off to all corners away from the blasts, towards what they thought were safer grounds.
At the end of the day, those who ran towards Ejigbo across the Oke-Afa canal met a watery death.
Most of them, not knowing there was no real road across the canal plunged to their deaths.
The situation was compounded by panicky Lagosians who kept pushing to get out of the way of what they knew not, and pushed several residents to their deaths in the canal.
Local divers did their best to rescue the unfortunate victims but many died before they knew what was happening, and the divers merely succeeded in dragging out bodies of drowned victims.
Over 600 Lagosians, though no official figures were given, died in that stampede and the families of victims are still stunned that Federal Government has continued to behave as if the incident never happened.
The Federal Government, which ought to have owned up and compensated families of the victims has continued to look the other way.
Even the Nigerian Army, has done next to nothing to cushion the effects of the bomb blast on the families of those that lost their lives in the unfortunate incident.
Nobody is apportioning blames. Whatever was responsible for the incident is now history but we believe that many of the victims’ families ought to be compensated.
Though the Lagos State government cannot be directly held responsible for the death of so many residents, we commend the move by the state government, though belated, to compensate 70 families of the Ikeja bomb blast victims.
The government should identify others that have been left out and also compensate them.
The country has a history of not compensating victims of natural or man-made disasters, until in recent years of democratic rule, and we believe the Federal Government would emulate the Lagos State government and do something to make it look human in the eyes of the citizens.
Apart from the compensation, the statement government promised to mark the 10th anniversary of the disaster by building a commemorative wall where the names and pictures of some of the victims would be engraved.
While some parents would be compensated in monetary terms, children of other victims would be awarded scholarships, and the divers who did a wonderful job of rescuing some and pulling out the dead victims from the murky waters of the Oke-Afa canal would be sent for training and given certificate to make them employable. All every commendable.
Residents of the area in which the disaster occurred, with very good reasons, prevened the commemoration of the anniversary last year because a bridge is yet to be constructed across the death trap.
But with the promise of the state government, through the Commissioner for Special Duties, Wale Ahmed, frayed nerves may be soothed.
The Federal Government would also do well to look towards the way of these hapless families and do something, even if it is just to help construct the bridge, after all what would it cost to construct one small bridge when one thinks about billions of naira being frittered away on unproductive ventures.
The Ministry of Defence and the Nigerian Army authorities too can contribute their widow’s mite to help these long suffering people, after all, the bombs went off in their territory, although perhaps through no fault of theirs.
Let the deaths of the bomb blasts victims not remain another case of man’s inhumanity to man, we must rise to the challenge of being our brother’s keeper.
Ten years ago in January 2002, Lagos witnessed an unprecedented death toll when bombs went off at the Ikeja Military Cantonment and sent stampeding residents off to all corners away from the blasts, towards what they thought were safer grounds.
At the end of the day, those who ran towards Ejigbo across the Oke-Afa canal met a watery death.
Most of them, not knowing there was no real road across the canal plunged to their deaths.
The situation was compounded by panicky Lagosians who kept pushing to get out of the way of what they knew not, and pushed several residents to their deaths in the canal.
Local divers did their best to rescue the unfortunate victims but many died before they knew what was happening, and the divers merely succeeded in dragging out bodies of drowned victims.
Over 600 Lagosians, though no official figures were given, died in that stampede and the families of victims are still stunned that Federal Government has continued to behave as if the incident never happened.
The Federal Government, which ought to have owned up and compensated families of the victims has continued to look the other way.
Even the Nigerian Army, has done next to nothing to cushion the effects of the bomb blast on the families of those that lost their lives in the unfortunate incident.
Nobody is apportioning blames. Whatever was responsible for the incident is now history but we believe that many of the victims’ families ought to be compensated.
Though the Lagos State government cannot be directly held responsible for the death of so many residents, we commend the move by the state government, though belated, to compensate 70 families of the Ikeja bomb blast victims.
The government should identify others that have been left out and also compensate them.
The country has a history of not compensating victims of natural or man-made disasters, until in recent years of democratic rule, and we believe the Federal Government would emulate the Lagos State government and do something to make it look human in the eyes of the citizens.
Apart from the compensation, the statement government promised to mark the 10th anniversary of the disaster by building a commemorative wall where the names and pictures of some of the victims would be engraved.
While some parents would be compensated in monetary terms, children of other victims would be awarded scholarships, and the divers who did a wonderful job of rescuing some and pulling out the dead victims from the murky waters of the Oke-Afa canal would be sent for training and given certificate to make them employable. All every commendable.
Residents of the area in which the disaster occurred, with very good reasons, prevened the commemoration of the anniversary last year because a bridge is yet to be constructed across the death trap.
But with the promise of the state government, through the Commissioner for Special Duties, Wale Ahmed, frayed nerves may be soothed.
The Federal Government would also do well to look towards the way of these hapless families and do something, even if it is just to help construct the bridge, after all what would it cost to construct one small bridge when one thinks about billions of naira being frittered away on unproductive ventures.
The Ministry of Defence and the Nigerian Army authorities too can contribute their widow’s mite to help these long suffering people, after all, the bombs went off in their territory, although perhaps through no fault of theirs.
Let the deaths of the bomb blasts victims not remain another case of man’s inhumanity to man, we must rise to the challenge of being our brother’s keeper.
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