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| Ifeanyi Okowa Gov. Delta State |
Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, has commiserated with
the government and people of Cross River State over Thursday’s incident in
which some football fans lost their lives in Calabar, the state capital.
The football fans were electrocuted while watching the UEFA
Europa League quarter-final match between Manchester United and Anderlecht when
a high tension electric pole fell on the zinc roof of the viewing centre.
The incident happened at the Nyangasang axis of Calabar
Municipality at about 10pm on Thursday.
Okowa, who expressed sadness over the incident, urged
viewing centre operators to ensure safety in football viewing centres across the
country to check future occurrence.
The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary,
Mr. Charles Aniagwu, on Saturday, also condoled with the families of the
victims and football lovers across the world.
The statement read in part, “On behalf of the government and
people of Delta State, I commiserate with the Cross River State government on
the unfortunate and avoidable loss of football fans in Calabar on Thursday.
“As a government, our primary duty is to ensure that our
citizens are safe and protected, whether during leisure hour or work period. I
commend the government of Cross River State for their prompt attention to the
sad incident. I also urge governments at all levels to ensure that what is
necessary to make our people secure in both public and private spaces is given
the deserved priority at all times.”
The governor also prayed for the souls of the dead and quick
recovery for the injured.
Meanwhile, a former presidential adviser, Senator Florence
Ita-Giwa, has promised to build a ‘memorial viewing centre’ in honour of those
who died in the Calabar tragedy.
Ita-Giwa, who visited the scene of the incident on Saturday,
said the tragedy was unfortunate.
She noted that sports is one of the activities that keep the
youth off crime, adding that the incident was pathetic because the deceased
left behind their loved ones.
She said, “The youths are unemployed. They do not have any
form of relaxation and it is sad to hear that they died while expressing their
love for football.
“I am a mother, I feel pained on sighting the viewing centre
because when you imagine that these lovely people died after paying N50 to
watch a single game is very pathetic. We are going to take a tour of most of
the communities to ensure that viewing centres are far from high tension cables
because we cannot take away football from the youth.
“As a way of commiserating with the deceased and those
injured in the incident, I will build a standard viewing centre for the youths
in the community.”
Ita-Giwa, who led other women under the aegis of “Mothers of
Efik Kingdom” on the visit to the place, promised that the group would work
closely with relatives of the deceased to ensure that they were well catered
for.
According to her, the tragedy that befell the state needs
national and international support, hence the need for relevant agencies to
wade in.
She also laid a wreath at the site of the viewing centre.
In his response, Chairman of Nyangasang Community, Mr.
Emmanuel Umoh, thanked Ita-Giwa for the gesture.
Umoh said the tragedy had thrown the whole community into
mourning, adding that elders of the community would give her a land to build
the viewing centre.
The Cross River State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hafiz
Inuwa, said seven persons died in the tragedy, adding that 11 others were
currently receiving treatment at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital.
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