The Kwara Government has donated N3.9 million as succour to 61 victims of the fire outbreak that gutted Oro Central Market in lrepodun Local Government Area of the state on April 18.
Mrs Motunrayo Adaran, the Secretary, State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), confirmed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin on Friday.
According to the secretary, the disbursement to the victims, who are mainly butchers and yam sellers, kicked off at the palace of Oloro of Oro Kingdom.
She said the provision was not meant to compensate the fire victims for the losses they incurred to the inferno, but to cushion the effects of the disaster.
She added that the state government made the gesture after some government officials embarked on an assessment tour of the market to examine the level of devastation caused by the inferno.
She recalled that Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq visited the market after the fire outbreak to commiserate with the victims, pledging the immediate support of the state government to the market men and women.
Adaran, therefore, advised the beneficiaries to use the money judiciously, praying they will not witness such an unfortunate incident again in the community and state in general.
NAN recalls that no fewer than 30 shops were gutted by fire at the market on April 18, destroying yams and slaughtered animals worth millions of naira. (NAN)
