The Nigerian Senate has recommended Ejiro Otarigho to President Muhammadu Buhari for National honour for his bravery.
Otarigho on Friday evening averted what could have resulted in a major disaster in Agbarho, a town near Warri in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State.
He drove a burning petroleum tanker out of danger zone to avert tragedy.
Hundreds of people watched in awe and fear for the worst as he navigated the burning tanker towards the Agbarho Riverside.
The Senate has also resolved to “invite Mr Ejiro Otarigho to the Chamber of the Senate for public commendation by the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan.
The Senate resolved to “Recommend Mr Ejiro Otarigho to His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, for a befitting National Honour as Mr President may deem fit for his extraordinary act of bravery, courage and skill that prevented the loss of human lives and property on a massive scale.”
The resolutions of the Senate were sequel to a motion by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, APC, Delta Central and co-sponsored by Senator James Manager (PDP, Delta South) and Senator Peter Nwaoboshi (APC, Delta North).
Rising under Order 45 and 52 of the Senate Standing Order 2021 (as amended), Senator Omo-Agege stressed that but for Ejiro’s courage, a major fire disaster which would have claimed several lives and property could have happened in his senatorial district.
The Deputy President of the Senate noted that Ejiro’s “extraordinary display of courage, reflex application of special driving skills, and huge risk to his own life, prevented a huge national tragedy and catastrophe by driving a burning tanker loaded with inflammable petroleum products from residential areas to safety so that thousands of our people may not die in an inferno that would also have consumed so much property in Agbarho, Delta State on Friday, June 10, 2022”.
He said that the driver’s audacious act of heroism, he stressed saved the nation from national tragedy and mourning.
In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, who presided over the plenary, hailed the driver for risking his life to drive the burning truck out of the residential area to save lives.
(THE NATION)
