Rose Audu
The Imo State Government has announced its resolve to hold a mass funeral for victims of Friday night explosion at an illegal refinery located in a forest in Abaezi community in the Ohaji Egbema Local Government Area of the state.
According to Ifeanyi Nnaji, the Head of Operations of the National Emergency Management Agency in the state, the mass burial would be carried out by the state ministries of Petroleum Resources and Environment.
He noted that the burnt remains of the over 100 victims had been gathered and were awaiting a mass burial by the state government.
According to the NEMA official, none of the victims had been recognised as they were burnt beyond recognition
Nnaji said, “The state Ministry of Petroleum Resources and Environment will carry out a mass burial for the victims because their remains are already decomposing.
“It is a large market involving people from all parts of the country; and since they burnt beyond recognition, it is very difficult to identify them. A family just came and saw one body, which they said resembled one of their own and they carried it for burial according to traditional rites.”
FG Orders Clampdown
President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered Nigeria’s security and intelligence agencies to intensify the clampdown on illegal refineries across the country to safeguard the lives of citizens.
The President made this known while commiserating with the families and the community of the people who lost their lives in the unfortunate gas explosion at the illegal refinery.
Presidential spokesperson, Mallam Garba Shehu made this known in a statement on Sunday.
He described the incident as a “catastrophe and national disaster.”
