Alphonsus Nweze
Traders of Bridgehead market in Onitsha, Anambra State, have called on Governor Chukwuma Soludo, to come to their rescue over the recent explosion at the Chemical line.
At least eight persons were confirmed dead, with the last victim recovered in one of the burnt shops last Monday by those excavating the debris.
Several traders who sustained various degrees of injuries during the unfortunate incident are currently receiving medical attention at various hospitals in Asaba, Delta State and Onitsha.
The chairman of the market, Chief Chinedu Ezekwike, said their appeal to the Governor was based on the monumental loss of human lives, goods and shops worth several billions of naira in the market.
“Some people lost their lives, some were severely injured and currently recuperating in various hospitals in Onitsha and Asaba,” he said.
He decried that some of the injured were in critical condition when they went to see them and may not be able to pay their hospital bills.
Others, said Ezekwike, who is the Akweke, Umuchu, who lost their shops and wares are not in position to rehabilitate themselves.
“We are appealing to the Governor as the father of the state to come to our rescue because what we lost is enormous. We lost people, some were injured, some had their shops and goods burnt to ashes. We are asking the Governor to intervene especially for those who died, the injured, those who lost their shops and wares.”
Chief Ezekwike also requested for fire station to be set up in the market as well as installation of CCTV and solar powered light to beef up security in the market.
These, he said, have become imperative because from the expert point of view what happened in the market on November 8, 2022, could not have been ordinary explosion.
The President-General however commended Governor Soludo for his timely intervention in dispatching fire fighters to curtail the spread of the explosion.
He concluded the State Government dispached carterpillars to remove the debris and equally sent officials who fumigated the market before it could be reopened last Wednesday.
