Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has directed the Mayor of Obingwa Local Government Area, Hon. Maxwell Nwadike, to immediately fence the council headquarters, ensuring that only one entrance and exit exist to enhance security and prevent unauthorized access.
The Governor issued the directive on Friday during his visit to the council headquarters to assess the aftermath of a fire outbreak that destroyed the Court Registry, Works Department, and National Youth Council buildings.
“I have given clear instructions to the Mayor on how to secure this place. It has to be fenced round, and trespasses will not be allowed going forward.
“We have to deploy armed security to this place. The idea would be that there would be only one entrance and one exit,”* Governor Otti stated.
While regretting the loss of office equipment and important documents, he expressed gratitude that no lives were lost.
“We thank God that no life was lost even though properties, particularly belonging to the court, were burnt. I am happy that we didn’t lose anybody,” he said.
Governor Otti also announced plans to strengthen fire response systems across the state, directing his Special Assistant on Homeland Security, Fire, and Emergency, Mr. Chinenye Alajemba, to ensure that every local government area has access to at least one fire truck.
“I believe that the fire truck came from Aba, and it took some time to come from Aba to this place. Having said that, I thank God that it wasn’t worse than this,” he remarked.
He further instructed the Mayor to push the contractor handling the construction of the Obingwa Local Government Court Hall to expedite the project.
“He (the contractor) seems to be lagging behind. Some of the ones that I’ve seen are at lintel levels and getting close to roofing, though they all started at the same time. He needs to put pressure on him,” he added.
Providing details of the incident, Hon. Maxwell Nwadike said the fire broke out in the early hours of Thursday and was first noticed by members of the National Youth Service Corps, who quickly raised an alarm.
“It was in the early hours of yesterday (Thursday), precisely around 5 am, that I was told that the place is on fire.
It was the youth corps members that alerted me, and immediately we swung into action and called Homeland Security. The SSA to the Governor on Homeland Security—I commend him for responding immediately. If not, we would have had a lot of damages,”he explained.
He stated that an investigative committee would be set up within a week to ascertain the full extent of the losses.
Hon. Nwadike thanked Governor Otti for personally visiting the site and praised the swift intervention of Homeland Security in containing the fire.
Otti Orders Fencing Of Obingwa LG HQ After Fire Outbreak is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
Source: The Whistler
