Gov. Mohammed sympathises with victims of plaza inferno, pledges support

Gov. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State on Saturday sympathised with victims of inferno which engulfed one of the biggest shopping complexes in the state, ‘Bababa shopping plaza’.

Goods worth millions of naira were destroyed by the fire.

The governor promised the victims of the fire incident that the state government would provide them with capital to restore their businesses.

This is contained in a sympathy message to the victims of the inferno made available to newsmen in Bauchi by Mr Mukhtar Gidado, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the governor on media.

According to the message, Mohammed assured that the victims would be the first to benefit from the state government’s financial assistance plans for traders in the state.

The governor called on spirited individuals to support in providing the victims with other needed assistance.

“On behalf of the Government and people of Bauchi State, we commiserate with members of the market associations and traders that were affected as well as the owner of the plaza, over the monumental losses of properties that happened yesterday night.

“The state government will take an engineering estimate of the affected building for its immediate rehabilitation.

“I want to assure that the victims of this fire incident will be the first to benefit from the state government’s financial assistance plans for traders in the state,” said the governor.

On non-functional fire fighting equipment in the state, the governor described the fire incident as a wakeup call for the state government to strengthen the operational capacity of fire fighters for efficient and effective service delivery.

“I regret all the inconveniences and the loss incurred here, it has come as a wakeup call to us as a government.

“The fire service agency is not working in tandem with my vision for the new Bauchi State. However, I want to assure you that we will take proactive measures to overcome the challenges,” Mohammed said.

The disaster, which affected the plaza at Wunti market, happened on Friday night and lasted till Saturday morning.