By Gideon Njoku
Sunday was usually the best day for Rev. Sister Henrietta Alokha, particularly this season. It is Lenten season.
She would, as usual, go to Church and, as the Principal of a Roman Catholic (Boarding) School, Bethlehem Girls’ School, Abule Ado, she also had the responsibility of shepherding the students entrusted to her Church.
And this Sunday, she did.
But it was a Sunday like no other. It was the day Armageddon came to town. Rev’d Sister Henrietta and her students were in Church when hell visited with fury. The school Chapel is under construction. So the students usually made do with their Cafeteria for Church activities.
That’s where they were when hell came visiting. They battled with it. Principal Henrietta was leading the fight. She had to save the students. And she did. She saved hundreds of them from the angry tongues of the raging fire. As she was doing that, pushing them to safety, she had no thought for her own life. And, she died saving their lives.
She was the face of heroism in this sad incident. But for her, scores of the students would have lost their lives. The fire started as early as as 9.00am. And, even though rescue efforts had been mobilised to the scene, not a few Nigerians are shocked that it took the President, Muhammadu Buhari, who should be the Chief Mourner and, Consoller- in- Chief, about nine hours to condole with the victms. He did so in a press release, issued on his behalf, by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.
Speculations are rife as to what caused the huge unprecedented explosion which triggered the fire. At the time of writing this, 17 fatalities,(and still counting), have been recorded. Over 70 residential houses, dozens of business places, Churches, and Bethlehem Girls’ School, were razed. The explosion affected nearby areas, as far flung as Ikeja. Even Naval facilities were affected.
The integrity of many buildings are now in doubt.
In monetary terms, billions of Naira were lost. The devastation is so huge it is unbelievable.
Speculations are rife as what could have been responsible for such devastation. Said one commentator, “It was like an atomic bomb”.
While some say it was a bomb, others say it was a pipeline explosion caused by the deliberate vandalisation of oil pipelines by oil thieves who live in the locality.
It is such a big time business yielding hundreds of millions of Naira and Dollars to the criminal cartel. They are well connected. And are well protected.
The leadership of the NNPC says even a number of their staff and several members of security agencies are involved. The only Security Agency given a clean bill is the DSS.
“The DSS is the only Security Agency I can honestly say is not involved in this sabotage against our economy and country”, a top NNPC source told a group of top media people recently.
However, according to the NNPC, the explosion was caused by a truck which hit some gas cylinders. The gas cylinders were stacked in a gas processing plant located close to NNPC’s system 2B Pipeline Right of Way.
Said Dr Kennie Obateru, the General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, the impact of the explosion was extremely huge.
Not a few people hold the government responsible for this tragedy. They wonder who gave approvals for residential houses, and even a school in the area. They think there is a lot of compromises in the allocation of land for buildings. They are calling for a probe. And insist that unless there are consequences, the next tragedy is on its way.
Meanwhile, it is expected that the number of fatalities would climb.
