Tears of joy flowed on the faces of the devastated victims of the recent fire outbreak at Ugboezeji and Ugboye in Abakpa Nike, Enugu, which burnt down the apartments of three widows, those of two other families and shops belonging to four furniture makers, a yam seller and bean-cake (Akara) fryer, respectively, when Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi visited them to sympathize and offer assistance to overcome their challenges.
Gov. Ugwuanyi who was represented by the Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Edward Ubosi, while at Ugboezeji, sympathized with the victims and gave the five tenants the sum of N500, 000 each to start a new life and N1 million to the landlord to assist her rebuild the property.
At Ugboye, the four furniture makers got N500,000 each, while the yam seller and bean-cake fryer got N300, 000 and N200,000 respectively, totaling N6 million.
Relief materials, such as food items, mattress, blankets, buckets and others, were given to the Ugboezeji victims at the Government House, Enugu by SEMA, immediately after the visit.
The victims who could not hold back their tears of joy, asked God to continue to bless the governor and grant him his heart’s desire for coming to their rescue. They also prayed for the governor’s re-election in 2019, describing him as “a good and kindhearted governor”.
According to one of the victims, Mrs. Patience Eze, “I am very happy today because the Governor of Enugu State has come to rescue us from this trouble. God will pay him back for this assistance and all of you that came in Jesus Name. Amen”.
Another victim, Blessing Onyefuru said: “God will continue to bless our governor for his quick intervention. He will continue to succeed. May God of the widow continue to answer your prayers. God of the fatherless will always remember you, for remembering a poor widow like my mother. May God bless and honour you in everything you do in Jesus Name. Amen”.
The speaker, who led the state government’s delegation, was accompanied by Executive Secretary of Enugu State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) Mrs. Nkechi Eneh and her team; the Chairman of Enugu East Local Government Area, Hon. Alex Ugwu and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Enugu East/Isi-Uzo Federal Constituency, Prince Cornelius Nnaji, who separately donated N50,000 to each of the victims at Ugboezeji.
They cautioned residents to be vigilant and avoid any act that could lead to fire outbreak, especially in this period of Harmattan.
