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Speaker 1: Peter Obi, the former a Nambro State governor and last

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presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the Nigeria twenty

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twenty three general elections, has insisted that the three brothers

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among the twelve persons that died as a result of

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fire that engulfed the twenty five story building of Great

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Nigeria Insurance House Plaza at Balagoon Market in Lagos Island

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on Christmas Eve, called for help for days with no

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emergency response from the government under the leadership of President

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Bola Ahmed Tenubu, saying the three siblings mister stephen On

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Yekoomer two aged forty, Mister Kasmir Nabukomer two aged thirty

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nine and mister Collins Kenechukuoma two aged thirty seven, for

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days sent distressing police for help while trapped in the building,

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yet there were no emergency services to rescue them. Several

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days passed in the rubble before their bodies were finally recovered,

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Several days of unanswered calls of a system that failed

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them at the moment they needed it most. Peter Obi

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made this statement after attending the burial ceremony of the

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three siblings held at Uzokua community in Ihiala Local Government

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Area of Anambra State on Wednesday, after Lagos State Government,

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through the Office of the Commissioner for Information and Strategy,

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Bengor Omatoso, in a statement issued on January one, twenty

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twenty six, stated that as soon as the fire alarm

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was received on the day, the government deployed teams of

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first responders to the scene, including the Lagos State Fire

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and Rescue Service, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Legos State

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Ambulance Services, security Agencies and other emergency and safety units.

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But this statement from the Lagos State Government appears not

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to be in line with an eyewitness account. A resident

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who spoke with New Central Television at the scene of

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the fire incident that a phone call was made across

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to a fire service in Lagos State, but the fire

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service demanded thirty million naira’s service fee before the fire

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service would respond to the emergency issue this The resident

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added that if the fire service had responded on time,

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the entire building would have been saved, probably with no

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life lost, because the fire was only at a single

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flour when the fire service was called. According to Punch newspaper,

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the three siblings died after being trapped inside the burning

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high rise building in Lagos, an incident that shocked residents

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and reignited concerns over fire safety and emergency response in

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the country. According to family sources, the intensity of the

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inferno made rescue efforts impossible, and only ashes were recovered

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for burial. The burial brought grief and sorrow to Ihiala community,

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with residents praying that their souls find rest and that

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their family find strength to pass through this trying time.

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After the burial, emotions ran high as the young wives

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of the deceased, family members, friends, schoolmates, and sympathy vices

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gathered to bid a painful farewell. Some attendees, dressed in

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black and carrying posters of the three siblings, wept openly,

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struggling to come to terms with the tragedy that sent

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shock waves across the community. Punch Online had reported on

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January seventh that the fire started on the fourth floor

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and spread to the sixth before engulfing the remaining floors

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and adjoining structures. A detached section of the plaza, estimated

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at about seven floors high, collapsed during the inferno, trapping

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some traders and market assistance One of the families worst

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affected was the Omertu family, which lost three brothers, Steve forty,

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Casmir thirty nine and Collins thirty seven. The siblings were

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trapped in the building and are believed to have died

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in the fire. A surviving twin, Camillus Homertu, reportedly escaped

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the blaze. Peter Obe, in a statement published through his

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verified social media accounts, said, yesterday I attended a deeply

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emotional and heart breaking burial of three siblings, Stephen On

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Yeko Omertu, Cosmi and Ibukomtu and Collins Kennechuku Omtu, the

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three young brothers whose lives were cruelly cut short in

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the Great Nigeria Insurance Building fire in Lagos, Nigeria. It

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is almost impossible to describe the depth of this tragedy.

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For days, these young men sent distressing police for help

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while trapped in the building, yet there were no emergency

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services to rescue them. Several days passed in the rubble

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before their bodies were finally recovered. Several days of unanswered

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calls of a system that failed them at the moment

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they needed it most. This is not just a personal

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loss for their family. It is a national loss. This

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tragedy should serve as a reminder that our emergency services

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must be improved and accessible to every citizen. We cannot

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continue like this. Every life matters, and no Nigerian should

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ever have to endure such neglect or be left to

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perish in such a gruesome way while help could have

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been provided. I pray that the souls of Steve, Casmir

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and Collins find eternal rest and that God grants their

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family the courage, strength and comfort to bear this unimaginable grief.

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May we never forget them, and may we be moved

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to ensure such a tragedy never happens again. The Lagos

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State government, according to Punch newspaper publication on January second,

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twenty twenty six, has warned against the spread of speculation

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that may heighten public anxiety over the fire incident that

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occurred at the twenty five story Great Nigeria Insurance House

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on Martin Street, Lagos Island on Christmas Eve. The Commissioner

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for Information and Strategy, benger Omtoso said in a statement

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on Thursday, January first, twenty twenty six, that the government

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had taken note of some speculations and assertions concerning the incident.

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Omatoso conveyed the government sympathy to those who lost their

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loved ones in the incident, saying we feel their pain

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and understand their anxiety. He reiterated that as soon as

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the fire alarm was received on the day, the government

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deployed teams of first responders to the scene, including the

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Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency,

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Legos State Ambulance Services, security agencies, and other emergency and

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safety units. Omatoso said the teams had also remained on

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site conducting systematic search, rescue and safety operations in line

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with internationally accepted emergency response protocols. They will remain there

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and continue to work until the completion of recovery operations,

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supported by thorough and forensic assessments, he said. Giving an

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update on the incident, Omatoso said, as of this morning,

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the total number of victims is eight males, including a

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fireman rescued with varying degrees of injury and teil taken

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to the hospital. Three males and two females who sustained

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minor injuries were administered first aid and thereafter released at

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the scene. One adult female was extricated dead from the rubble,

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two adult males were extricated and three persons were burnt.

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The government appealed to the public, affected families and all

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stakeholders to exercise patients restraint and sensitivity and to refrain

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from spreading speculation that could heighten public anxiety or under

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mine ongoing operations. In addition to the numbers of death,

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the National Emergency Management Agency of Nigeria NIMA, on January eleventh,

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twenty twenty six, said it recovered four more bird bodies

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from the scene of the fire incident. Accordingly, NIMA said

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the National Emergency Management Agency NIMA has facilitated the deployment

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of heavy duty equipment by the China Civil Engineering Construction

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Corporation CCECC to support ongoing recovery operations at the site

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of the Great Nigeria Insurance Building on Martin Street, Lagos Island,

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which was gutted by fire on the twenty fourth of

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December twenty twenty five. The multi agency rescue and recovery

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operation remains complex due to the precarious structural condition of

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the twenty three story building. However, significant progress has been

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recorded with the controlled removal of debris in the recovery

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of four bodies from beneath the rubble. NIMA is providing

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technical and operational support to ensure safety at the site

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while facilitating the deployment of CCEECC equipment for controlled excavation

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and debris clearance. The excavation and debris removal operations are

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being carried out under the close supervision of the Lagos

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State Emergency Management Agency LEISMA, the Lagos Waste Management Authority LAWMA,

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and other relevant response stakeholders. Four burned bodies were recovered

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from the rubble, properly documented and handed over to the

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Lagos State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit CHEMU for onward transfer

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for forensic identification and dignified handling. The incident perimeter remains

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fully secured by the military Police and other supporting security agencies,

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with barricades in place to restrict unauthorized access and ensure

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the safety of emergency personnel and the public. Meanwhile, a

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strategic coordination meeting was held involving NIMA, Lagos Operations Office

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and key stakeholders, including the Honorable Commissioner for Special Duties

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and Intergovernmental Relations Lagos State, Mister benger oyerand the Special

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Advisor to the Governor on RCGIS and Urban Development Drive

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OLOGDA Babatunde and the Chairman of the Community Development Association CDA.

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The meeting focused on detailed planning of ongoing operations, including

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a phased approach to safe excavation, structural integris assessment, controlled

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demolition and eventual sight rehabilitation. All activities at the site

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remain under the authority of LEISMA and the Lagos State Government,

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with NIMA providing technical and operational support. Meanwhile, a Catholic priest,

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father d James, in a tweet on x social media

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platform on January sixth, twenty twenty six, talked about the

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Omertu family and stated in quotes that there were seven

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orphans in one family, two girls and five boys. One

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of them is a priest, father William Omitu. Three of

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their brothers were trapped in the Great Nigeria House Market

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fire on Lagos Island and died there on Christmas Eve,

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the twenty fourth of December twenty twenty five. They did

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not die because it was inevitable. They died because in

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Nigeria life has become cheap, because those meant to protect

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lives and property did not because no one came in time,

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because somehow nobody cared enough. How does a family bury

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three promising sons on the same day. How do you

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explain such pain? This is not just sad, It is devastating.

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It breaks the heart. What hurts even more is knowing

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that their brother, a priest and my friend here in Scotland.

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The remaining siblings will live the rest of their life

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and ministry carrying this memory, the knowledge of how their

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brothers died and how helpless everyone was. May Nigeria not

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happen to any of us. In Jesus’s name, I pray

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that the Lord grants this family the fortitude to carry

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a grief this heavy. May the souls of Stephen, Casmir

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and Collins rest in peace. Amen. On January ninth, twenty

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twenty six, Father A. James also treated and said, I

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just came off a call with Father William Ometu, the

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brother of the three siblings that lost their lives in

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the Legos market fire, and he told me they could

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not recover the bodies of his brothers. They were left

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only with ashes. In fact, he showed me the ashes

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he had just collected from the site. This is painful

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and heartbreaking. He told me that about one hundred people

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died in that building. What a tragedy. I cannot imagine

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what it feels like for him and his remaining siblings

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at this time, but I pray that God will see

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him through. Amen, please keep them in your prayers as

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they travel for the burial.

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Speaker 2: Were living witness and my friend also they also selling

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business in this plaza, so very close to this place.

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But what I observed, Wendy, if I us started around

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to around for something, is that they call some private

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fire service in the first places the according and as

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their goden they did that did they demand?

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Speaker 3: For that’s a minion era and it starts just only

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one floor and the only one floor is not is

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not he’s not even every week. That’s only particular like

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particular little little places. Indeed in the first building, first

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floor that then try to to stop the fire to

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get to this estant. And then there’s a way even.

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Speaker 4: Their path, their pat has the opposite of wedding fire

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did the only oppositively that building, the back the pack

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that disabling what is stopping them to want to to

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stop the fire then before it gets to this to

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this estant. So that’s my blame.

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Speaker 3: Their private version is.

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Speaker 2: Supposed to be, supposed to be to be to be banned,

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because that’s the fact, is not so messyless.

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Speaker 3: So that’s that’s all I can say about. Bring in

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the margins out there.