Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Wednesday said the government had resolved to foot
the bills of the survivors who are receiving treatment at the state’s medical facilities in Ikeja and
Gbagada.
The governor who together with his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat visited victims of the recent Ijegun pipeline
fire incident who are receiving treatment at the Trauma and Burns Unit of the Gbagada General
Hospital sympathised with families of the victims and also appraised recuperation of the survivors.
The Governor took time to go round the three wards where some of the victims were receiving
treatment for various degrees of injuries.
Among the survivors are three children and four adults.
He described the incident as unfortunate and bemoaned criminal activities around oil pipeline right of
ways in the state, stressing that the State Government would cooperate with the Federal Government to
strengthen security patrol of the vulnerable areas to protect the lives of residents.
“We are here to check on the survivors, who are receiving treatment and assess their healing process.
Although, we had a few fatalities, there are many survivors with different degrees of burn. They are
responding well to treatment. I spoke with them and assured that government will do everything to
ensure they get well.
“This kind of unfortunate incident must be a lesson for all of us. We cannot continue to witness loss of
lives to this kind of preventable crimes. Those who are bent on making illegal wealth at the expense of
other people’s lives should have a rethink.”
Sanwo-Olu warned those engaging in pipeline vandalism to desist, saying full wrath of the law would be
brought against economic saboteurs.
The Governor cleared the air on why he did not visit the scene of the fire incident.
“The issue of pipeline vandalism is a criminal issue being dealt with by the Federal Government. For us in
the state, my deputy and I did not visit the site of the incident, because we didn’t want to make a
camera show at the scene. This is not because we don’t have empathy or we are not doing what is
required of us; it is a crime scene and security operatives are at the site for investigation. We don’t want
to disrupt that process.”
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