Lagos Gives Oke Afa Tragedy Victims' Families N4.25m

Affected Families Urge FG To Fulfil PromiseTEN years after the Oke Afa disaster in which many lives were lost, the Lagos State government yesterday gave cheques worth N250,000 to families of 17 victims, totalling N4.25 million, during the 10th commemoration of the Ikeja bomb blast.Speaking at the Oke-Afa Memorial Cemetery, Governor Babatunde Fashola acknowledged that the affected families naturally must for grieve, but was quick to add: 'But 10 years on, we must now finally let go of our grief. For some of us, the memory and the pain may still be new but we must not let sorrow overcome us and stand in our way.'We must take solace in the fact that there will always be a special place in history for people whose deaths bring about change. And we must take solace in the fact that our loved ones will never be forgotten.'Recalling the incident, he said it was not the injuries sustained from blasts that claimed the highest number of lives, but the Oke Afa Canal in which more than 1,000 men, women and children fell and subsequently drowned'One after the other, they fell into the swampy quicksand and crushed those below them as they themselves were pushed and trampled on by those coming behind. What started out as another peaceful Sunday ended up in the worst catastrophe ever to befall us in Lagos,' he lamented.Fashola used the occasion to disclose that the heroes of the Oke Afa tragedy have been gainfully employed by the Lagos State government to work in the Marine Rescue Unit of the Lagos State Ambulance service (LASAMBUS).'Ten years ago, Moses Okatahie, without a thought for his personal safety and security, dived into the canal filled with dead rodents, domestic, industrial and human waste. Okatahie and the eight others who later joined him were given immediate employment and six of them are still in service,' he said.Chairman, Families of the Bomb Blast, Olaniran Majekadunmi on his part said they constituted themselves as a body to get justice on behalf of their loved ones.'We have taken the battle to the doorstep of the Federal Government, yet no fruitful result. But today, the Lagos Sate government has decided to pay the families of the deceased. Today, we feel that the government of this state has not forgotten nor forsaken us.'We still have to demand from our amiable governor that he prevails on the Federal Government to redeem its promise by adequately compensating us.'We have tried our best to see that our people do not die in vein but the Federal Government has paid deaf ear to all our yearnings and prayers.
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