Oyo APC slams Makinde over Aleshinloye market inferno

The Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Wednesday, lamented the incessant losses of lives and properties of the residents of the state “as a result of incompetence, ineptitude and negligence  on the part of the state government”, saying that Governor Seyi Makinde should admit his failure and brace up to arrest the ugly situation.

The lamentations of the party apparently came against the background of the Tuesday inferno which ravaged the popular Aleshinloye market in Ibadan.

The party in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, said the midnight fire, which raged for several hours, resulted in the loss of properties and other valuable materials estimated at billions of naira as it was the case in many other popular markets in the state in recent times.

It also called for immediate action from Governor Makinde to address the demands of the Joint Action Committee of the Oyo State-Owned Tertiary Institutions and their counterparts in the health sector which have made all workers in higher institutions and health facilities belonging to the state to embark on their on-going indefinite strike actions.

The statement read, “Our thoughts and prayers are with many traders and others in the popular Aleshinloye market who lost so much in money and property as a result of the unfortunate Tuesday night fire incident even as such cases have become a recurring decimal across the state in recent times. While we sympathize with all the victims, there is a dire need to challenge the Makinde administration on their approach to issues of safety, accident prevention and management in the state.

“Questions are being raised regarding the ceaseless reports of inability or helplessness of the State Fire Department to rise to the occasion whenever one case of emergency or the other arises in any part of the state. Credible sources confirmed that the Tuesday inferno raged for many hours as men of the Oyo State Fire Service could not do anything to help the situation due to lack of basic equipment. How does one explain to the world that Oyo state can only boast of only one or two fire fighting truck even when Gov. Makinde announced to the world that he visited Turkey in 2020 to purchase 10 of such service trucks with state money running into several millions of naira?

“Another issue of concern is the damage being done to the master plan of many major market places across by the agents of the state government to enable them build lock-up shops and malls indiscriminately. Good examples are found in Bola Ige International (New Gbagi) market, Agodi-Gate Motor Spare Parts market, Bodija market, Aleshinloye market among others where new structures have been developed illegally for the purpose of enriching some individuals within the corridor of power in the state and without recourse to physical planning law and safety standards. They use state power to build on access roads, car parks and reserved spaces while they also convert toilets, waste houses and worship centres to lock-up shops.

“Meanwhile, we appeal to Gov. Makinde to empower the State Fire Service Department and ensure that adequate manpower is available for its operations in every part of the state. It is equally important for the state to prioritize safety measures such as orientation and education of members of the public on how to prevent fire incidents everywhere at all times. Also, we demand detailed information on the 10 fire fighting trucks believed to have been paid for and imported from Turkey in 2020 while measures must be put in place to arrest the unabated trend of inferno and related disasters in the state.”