Abia State Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, has fulfilled the promise he made to 32 petty traders, mostly women, who were affected by the recent petrol tanker fire disaster that destroyed their shops and wares at Opobo junction along Aba-Ikot Ekpene Road Aba.
Following the fire disaster that occurred on the 16th of October 2017, Governor Ikpeazu visited the scene of the fire accident and promised to assist the victims to quickly recover some of their losses and restart their businesses.
The affected traders, who visited the Governor at the Abia State Governor’s Lodge in Aba, expressed joy that the Governor has fulfilled his pledge to help them and later confirmed that they have received the money sent to them.
One of the victims, Gift Okoro, could not hide her joy; “only God can bless and reward our Governor for wiping away our tears after Satan tried to steal our joy that day”.
Another victim of the fire incident, Udoka Samuel, said: “God used Governor Ikpeazu to restore our hope again. A lot of us didn’t know how we will get back to business after the fire that burnt down our businesses. When the Governor visited us, he promised to help us to start our business again, today we came here to see him, and he has given 19 of us N150,000 each and 13 others got N100,000 each.
Even though that may not be enough to cover all our individual losses, we appreciate the kindness of our Governor and will use the money prudently. It will help us start our business again and grow. We thank the Governor and pray God to bless him and bless us too.”
In his remarks, before presenting the money to the traders, Governor Ikpeazu urged them to utilize the money to restart their businesses and participate in the expected Yuletide season business boom. He also prayed God to help the traders quickly get back to their feet.
