Environment
MR Sam Oluwalana, the Senior Special Assistant on Media to Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, has warned residents against indiscriminate bush burning to prevent fire disasters.
Oluwalana urged the people, in a statement on Friday in Ekiti, that the harmattan period “is dry and windy and it aids fire to travel fast and destroy objects.
“Our people should desist from the practice of setting fire on bushes indiscriminately.
“What is the benefit of bush meats compared to the loss of lives and property?”
He sympathized with the people of Ijero Quarters, Omuo-Ekiti, Ekiti East Local Government Area, over an inferno that ravaged the area on Wednesday.
Oluwalana noted that the fire destroyed farms and other property estimated at over N400 million and rendered several people homeless, following the destruction of their means of livelihood.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that houses, economic trees like oil palm, kola nut, cocoa and cashew were destroyed by the fire.
According to the statement, the fire started at the Omimimu area, which houses farms and private residents, and spread to Omuo/Ikare /Abuja expressway, an area spanning about 15 kilometers expanse of land.
The governor’s aide almost lost his father’s house to the inferno, but for the quick intervention of youths in the area who defied the dangerous situation to put the fire under control.
The massive spread of the inferno was aided by the windy and hazy harmattan currently being experienced in the community.
“When it was obvious that men of the fire service invited to the scene were helpless, as they could not control the spread of the inferno, youths mobilize themselves to battle the inferno with crude implements and tools, ” he said.
Oluwalana, also the state Director of Media and Publicity of APC, however, said: “We thank God Almighty that the fire that gutted the area did not claim any life.
“I have to empathize with the people of my birth-place that lost valuables worth several millions of naira to the fire incident.
“I pray against any recurrence of the incident, which has never happened in the community before.” (NAN)
– Feb. 19, 2021 @ 17:06 PM |
Tags: Inferno: Fayemi’s aide warns against bush burning
