What next after the Jattu market tragedy?
By Bernadette Idalu
As condolences pour in following an on the spot assessment by the arrowhead of Etsako West Local Government Council to "Jattu Market" following a rainstorm which claimed the lives of four itinerant traders, one of whom was said to have had a baby strapped to her back at about 9:00 am, on Monday, July 8, 2024, at the populous market, the unfortunate incidence brings to bare the need for people to have basic life saving information at their fingertips based on their exposure to safety consciousness, realizing that trees can easily get struck by lightning which makes it hazardous to take cover under, or stay close to a tree during a downpour.
Eyewitness narrative state that the traders who initially opined that they could wait-out the drizzle, persevered, taking cover under the cluster of said trees. They were however caught off guard when the drizzle turned into torrential rainfall, followed by a screeching sound whose source was unknown.
Unbeknownst to them, the said rainstorm was busy unearthing and uprooting four trees which came crashing down, levelling traders on its pathway.
Four traders who had resolutely defied the vagaries of weather in their bid to scrounge for their daily bread lost the battle of life on the spot; with two more said to have caved in to their injuries, bringing the death toll to six (6). Injured persons are said to be at different stages of recuperation at hospitals in the vicinity.
Moving forward, on the pathway to recovery, there is need to push back or halt completely, likely incidents that cut down on life expectancy in the state through concerted efforts.
Knowledge is key. There is need for public education and sensitization; periodic health, safety and environment (HSE) enlightenment programmes or lectures should be undertaken by government, charity organizations or even health facilities which target market union leaders and traders across market spaces in Edo State to speed up their knowledge base, intentionally trickling down basic life changing information on issues relating to personal health, safety and environment.
This should be made an area of keen interest just as issues relating to traders welfare and sourcing for loans to expand businesses are made interesting across some local government areas of the state as they gear up to become beneficiaries of government, "trader money" grants by instalments.
Having trained "first responders" take charge at emergency response scenes cannot be overemphasized. The presence of these trained medical personnel attending to casualties can cut down on internal bleeding/fatality by half, due to the way they help with evacuation of wounded persons, their approach much different from the self help emergency crowd approach system society is used to. Use of technologically adequate tools backed by timely interventions to free trapped persons, is a mercy.
Reality checks sourced from released casualty data, for now, show that six families are presently battling the trauma of loosing their loved ones, nay, breadwinners? to this unforseen calamity. This is a stark reminder that weather has an uncanny nature of beating down and taming man despite his scientific advancements.
There is need to go back to the drawing board to map out relief plans. Aside giving medical attention or offsetting medical treatment bills accrued by the injured, there is need to bunch together societal goodwill to get better results. For instance, survivors need to be reintegrated into society, backed by some forms of mental and psychological counselling to ease their fear of rainfall or standing close to falling trees. This experience may have marked them for life.
Same goodwill should be extended to members of deceased families. Before the sympathetic fervor wanes down from society, kith and keen, there is need to draw up or actualize an action plan for deceased children in the area of finalizing the wish of their dead parent concerning their yearn to have their kids going to or finishing school or learning a trade.
For the affluent who have been keen at sending goodwill messages, they could go a step further to help humanity by funding a trust fund to cater to highlighted raised needs for such vulnerable family members. The process would have to be monitored or overseen by designated body/caretakers to prevent an abuse of privilege or misplaced priorities such as using raised funds by some heads of such affected families to marry new wives in the guise of using such process to raise these affected children.
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