Oyo State Government has debunked insinuations that it abandoned the victims of the Bodija explosion in Ibadan.
A statement by the Commissioner for Information & Orientation, Prince Dotun Oyelade revealed that the State Government has been spending between 15 and 20 million naira weekly on accommodation and feeding of victims of the January 16 explosion.
The statement added that the Government has spent over 160 million naira on accommodation and feeding for the victims, 38 of who are still lodged in various decent hotels in highbrow areas.
It was further revealed that the Government has picked medical bills of explosion victims to the tune of over 17 million naira while those still in hospitals are being well catered for.
The Commissioner also said that two million naira is spent weekly, amounting to 16 million naira in eight weeks on security operatives protecting the properties of the victims, while rumours that some of the victims were ejected from their hotels, or meals reduced to one are completely false.
The statement clarified that one of the hotels located at Idi-Ape informed occupants of the management’s intention to fumigate the hotel premises and the State Government immediately arranged for the explosion victims to be accommodated in another hotel at Jericho along with members of their families.
The State Government further described the allegation that victims’ meals have been reduced to one as spurious, because many hotels provide complimentary breakfast, while most of the explosion victims go out in the day time, hence, Government’s decision to provide dinner.