Blast victims to get relief but no compensation

The Nigerian government will provide relief assistance to the victims of a munitions depot disaster that rocked the commercial capital, Lagos, in January, but offer no formal compensation, a senior official said on Tuesday. Secretary to the government, Ufot Ekaette, told a news conference in Lagos that the government wanted to clearly distinguish between the financial assistance now being provided to victims, and formal compensation. "This committee is not in a position to compensate anybody or organization," Ekaette said. "Our mandate does not include compensation but to raise and administer the funds." He heads the Lagos Explosion Disaster Relief Fund that President Olusegun Obasanjo set up to coordinate aid to the victims. More than 1,000 people died in the stampede that followed explosions and fire at an arms and munitions depot on 27 January at the Ikeja Military Cantonment. Scores of buildings on the base and in the surrounding residential area were destroyed. Ekaette said his committee was working with the Lagos State government, the National Emergency Management Agency, the Red Cross and the Nigeria Army, to identify the needs of the victims who had reported or filed claims at relief centres it set up. Some 3.7 billion naira (US $31.8 million) was required to put industries and businesses affected by the blasts back to work, he said. The disaster fund was also liaising with the National Insurance Corporation to ensure affected companies with insurance were duly settled. Estimates for the repair of schools, public and private buildings damaged in the explosions are estimated at 7 billion naira (US $60.3 million) but the relief fund so far has only 540 million naira (US $4.6 million), Ekaette said . The relief fund has also provided 185 million naira as "interim assistance" to the Nigerian army to relocate 4,739 soldiers at the Ikeja base, along with their 33,000 dependants displaced by the disaster, to other military locations across the country.