• Families demand compensation as Lagos gov commissions Ejigbo-Ajao Estae Link Bridge
In confusion, adults and children ran helter-skelter for safety, towards where they thought was safer ground. In the ensuing stampede, many of them took a fatal plunge into the murky, smelly water of the Oke-Afa canal.
That ill-fated Sunday, January 27, 2002, went down in the annals of Nigeria’s history as a day of gloom. It was an evening several families lost their loved ones to what was alleged to be negligence on the part of the authorities. As lifeless bodies were being pulled out by divers from the place now tagged ‘death zone’, the enormity of the blast starred all in the face. Many of the victims were babies strapped to their mothers’ backs, children, separated from fleeing family members and teenagers. Many homes have since not remained the same.
Twelve years down the line, the sad memory lingers for the affected families. And time, they confessed, had not healed the wounds..
To commemorate this year’s anniversary of the blast, Lagos State Government, as a mark of respect and honour, commissioned and named a 21-kilometre road that links Ejigbo with Ajao Estate, ‘January 27 Link Bridge’ in memory of the victims.
This move, according to Mr. Olaniran Majekodunmi, an engineer has only deepened their wounds, as many families who lost their breadwinners to the tragedy have not been compensated. Speaking on behalf of the victims’ families, an association, comprising victims of the unfortunate incident, lined the road in protest with placards, Majekodunmi said he lost two children, aged one and 13 respectively to the Oke-Afa stampede.
“In as much as we appreciate the ease to life that the bridge would provide for Lagosians, we don’t appreciate the gesture.”
According to the governor who led other members of the state executive council and community leaders to observe a minute silence in honour of the over 1,000 victims of the blast, the incident would have been avoided if the relevant authorities had been alive to their responsibilities.
Describing the incident as tragic, Fashola said the project was a demonstration that the state government would always remember and honour the victims, adding that government had redeemed the promise it made shortly after the incident, to build bridges linking Ejigbo with Ajao Estate, in order to ease the movement of people and motorists.
“My predecessor promised you then that government would build a bridge linking Ajao Estate and Ejigbo. Now, you do not only have a bridge, but you have two bridges and four roads.”
On the issue of compensation and why some of the victims were yet to be reinbursed by the state government, Fashola attributed the development to verification problems.
According to him, “I still hear there are issues of compensation, as willing as we were to pay compensations to victims, I have said that there is no amount of compensation that would bring back the lost lives. As much as we are willing to do so, the community must assist us to properly verify the victims and we cannot have compensations on every anniversary year and after 12 years when we should get to a closure where people are allowed to move on with their lives,’’ he said.
Majekodunmi noted that in as much as no amount of compensation would bring back their loved ones, all they are demanding is their rights and for the relevant authorities to fulfil the promises made to them in the wake of the blast.
According to him, after the incident, the Federal Government promised to compensate and assist the victims’ children, but had continued to behave as if the incident never happened. They also alleged that the Nigerian Army had not done anything to cushion the effects on families of victims.
Majekodunmi disclosed that lack of response from the Federal Government prompted them to consult their lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, who wrote the Ministry of Defence and copied relevant government agencies. He said reminders were also written, but the families of victims have since not received any positive answer.
He decried the apathy allegedly meted out to them, stressing that all they are asking for is justice for the blood of their relations.
Majekodunmi said he was grateful for the N250, 000 given to about 70 families during the 10th anniversary of the bomb blast, but accused the state government of insincerity in handling issues relating to the blasts. He stressed that financial donations made by non-governmental organisations after the blast had not been given to them. He also noted that about 84 of them were left out of the payment.
“I have the pictures showing the presentation of aids by NGOs. I still have them, but where is the money? They told the whole world that they spent billions here on issues relating to the bomb blasts. Are they not using our families to trade,” he asked.
He insisted that justice must be done to their loved ones, noting that not until then would their spirit rest in peace.
“No amount of compensation would wipe away our tears or bring back our loved ones but we hear their voices from the grave crying for justice, demanding that they did not deserve to die like that. We would not allow the undoing and negligence of others to go unchallenged. Even the scholarship promised the children that lost their parents has not been forthcoming. We are resolute about our demands because government has treated us unfairly and inhumanly. We demand for justice because it could be anybody,” he said.
Corroborating his claims, Mr. Nurudeen Oyegbemi, who also lost his son to the explosion, said out of the 154 recognised victims, only 70 were actually given the N250,000 compensation by the state government.
He recalled that during the cash presentation, they informed Governor Babatunde Fashola about the irregularity and he promised to correct it, but nothing had since been done.
“During the 10-year anniversary of the explosion, the Lagos State Government, on compassionate grounds, gave the family of each victim, N250, 000. Out of 154, only 70 were given compensation while the remaining 84 were left out. This, we pointed out then and in 2013, as a follow up, we went to the office of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency but were told that the state government recognises only 70 even though the Federal Government recognises 154.
“This made us to take our complaint to the Lagos State House of Assembly and we were told to submit relevant documents. In November 2013, we were told that the state government would not give us money as they could not be mourning every year. Also, the state government promised scholarship to 10 selected persons who lost their parents in the bomb blast. Since they were given N100, 000 once, nothing else has been done.”
The post At last, a wreath for Oke-Afa bomb blast victims appeared first on The Sun News.
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