A FRONT line transporter, and owner of the GUO Motors
Limited, Chief Godwin Okeke, popularly known as GUO has expressed worry on the
attitude of touts during disaster in Onitsha, which prevented better rescue
mission during the Ochanja Market fire outbreak.
Chief Okeke, who lamented
that his brand new Mercedes 711 fire truck was destroyed by hoodlums and his
rescue team beaten up as they rushed to assist in stopping the raging inferno, urged residents
in Onitsha to always support any rescue efforts by any group during emergency
periods.
Chief Okeke, whose
Sectional Manager, Mr. Vincent Agbo, led the rescue mission sympathised with
the victims of the Wednesday and Friday morning Onitsha fire disasters, while
also blaming the extent of damages on hoodlums who prevented helps during the
inferno.
Narrating how the GUO
Fire Truck was destroyed, the sectional manager, Mr Agbo, said that the GUO
boss, Chief Okeke, on hearing about the ugly news of the fire incident at
Onitsha, quickly directed his company to send their fire truck to the area and
was later shocked when he received the sad news that the fire truck was
destroyed and his staff who went for the rescue mission mobbed, and inflicted
with different degrees of injuries.
Agbo said: ”It was
not up to 30 minutes the fire started, that, our b oss, GUO himself, asked us
to take the company’s 5,000 liters of water fire truck to go and help stop the
fire but we were attacked, while the fire truck was also destroyed and
vandalized. We even thank God that we were not killed.
“The hoodlums
damaged the pumping machine and if they had allowed us entry, the inferno would
have been curtailed. These people who attacked us were not genuine traders, if
they were, they would not have attacked us.”
He thanked God that
none of his staff lost his life in the incident, but, revealed that seven
members of staff of the GUO company are currently receiving medical attention
in hospital as they sustained varying degrees of injury. He said he returned
from the hospital before encountering newsmen on inspection of the damaged
truck.
He wondered why
mischief makers would high jack such a deadly situation to perpetrate evil in
expense of their fellow brothers who were losing billions of naira, and urged
market leadership in the state to ensure they procure fire trucks with tight
security round their markets in order not to allow hoodlums take advantage of
such situations capable of depriving them of external help from fellow
businessmen during disasters, as any help, no matter how little, is very important
in savaging the situation.
He called on
well-meaning individuals to lend helping hands to the victims of the fire as
the property lost to the inferno was too large for the state to bear alone as
according to him, most of the traders are more like walking dead as many of
them lost their entire life investments to the fire disaster.