Education
Chief John Okeiyi-Kalu, Commissioner for Information in Abia has said that more children whose parents died in the Osisioma Pipeline fire will be accommodated in the governor’s scholarship programme.
Okeiyi-Kalu disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Aba on Tuesday.
The commissioner, who said four of those children had been awarded scholarships already, added that the governor had set up a committee to find the remote and immediate causes of the fire.
NAN recalls that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Oct. 12 announced an oil pipeline fire outbreak along the Osisioma axis near Aba Depot, Abia, in its System 2E pipeline network.
He said the committee was mandated to compile names of victims to enable the government acquire a dependable record on the incident.
He gave the assurance that the N10 million donated by Alhaji Atiku, Abubakar, People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential aspirant would be shared to victims’ families within two weeks.
He said government was being careful with the sharing process so as to ensure that the money did not end up in wrong hands.
“The committee will also write a comprehensive report which would be handed over to the governor when they finish sitting.
“We do not want to run and do the wrong thing. It is not the way to go. Meanwhile we have awarded scholarship to four children of one of the men who died as a result of that disaster.
“We have offered free medical assistance to some of them who ran away, fearing arrest by police and I am happy they survived.
“I believe that in the next one or two weeks, the committee will complete its interim report and hand it over to the governor and we will ensure that everyone is compensated,’’ he said.
Okeiyi-Kalu advised all affected families to write to the governor through the committee and list names of their children not included. (NAN)
Tags: Osisioma Fire Victims: Abia Govt to award more scholarships to victims’ children
