Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has warned Abians to desist from indiscriminate setting of fire to forestall avoidable loss of lives and property.
Ikpeazu gave the warning Bende LG headquarters during an on the spot assessment of the level of damage done by the inferno that razed the 11office blocks and customary court building at the LGA.
He regretted that the inferno which gutted the Customary Court and Administrative buildings in Bende Local Government has resulted to the loss of vital information, monumental relics and properties describing it as a great setback and waste of resources.
The Governor, who was represented by his Deputy, Sir Ude Oko Chukwu, used the opportunity to call on the management of Customary Courts in the State to digitalise their records and operations to enable them obtain back up information on fundamental issues in the event of any fire outbreak.
He regretted that the Customary Courts with judgments and exhibitions of monumental relics of the colonial building have gone down in flames disclosing that Government had recently acquired some fire fighting equipment to tackle fire outbreaks across the State.
The State Chief Executive while commiserating with the people of Bende LGA on the unfortunate incident, commended the Transition Committee Chairman and Staff of the Council for their efforts in turning things around in the area and for adhering strictly to his instructions to the new TC Chairmen of ensuring that rapid development are extended to the grassroots in terms of rural road grading and completing projects embarked upon by their predecessors assuring that Government would assist them remedy the situation.
In his remarks, the Transition Committee Chairman of Bende LGA, Chief Hagler Okorie who described the fire outbreak that occurred at their Council as a huge loss, thanked the Governor for coming to identify with them in the misfortune that befall them expressing optimism that the visit would bring them succour by reconstructing some of the damaged
structures.
Areas inspected by the Governor’s representative included the 11 office Administrative block housing the National Population Commission, Board of Internal Revenue, Education Development Center and the customary Court building among others.
