ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Ten vehicles impounded by Traffic and Indiscipline Management Agency of Abia State (TIMAAS) worth millions of naira, have been destroyed by fire.
The vehicles were impounded by the disbanded Traffic and Indiscipline Management Agency of Abia State (TIMAAS), and parked at its yard at the premises of the Abia State Meteorological Complex, Umukalika, Aba.
The affected vehicles were those impounded by TIMAAS led by Bright Chinedu Ikeokwu before it was disbanded by a State High Court sitting in Obingwa Judicial Division.
Meanwhile, the court presided over by Justice E.O. Enwereji in Suit No: HOB/24/2022: between Kalu Nnamdi Collins (plaintiff) and TIMAAS and Bright Chinedu Ikeokwu (defendants) had declared the agency an illegal body.
Mr. Collins stressed that it was not created by any law of the State House of Assembly.
It was gathered that personnel of the Abia State Fire Service, Aba had to battle for hours to stop the fire from spreading to other parts of the complex and also engulfing other vehicles that are still being detained by TIMAAS in the yard even after the court pronouncement.
The cause of the fire outbreak was not clear as at the time of filing this report, but sources at the state Fire Service said that they were suspecting activities of hunters who sneak into the yard to hunt for bush meats or smokers who may not have properly put off the cigarette or weed ash.
According to The Sun, investigations revealed also that before the incident, some of the vehicle owners had made attempts to retrieve their cars from the TIMAAS after it was disbanded by the court, but were unable to reach the General Manager of the Agency.
In a swift response to the fire incident, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu directed that all vehicles at the TIMAAS detention yard should be removed on or before 30 December, 2022.
In a statement issued through the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Chris Ezem, “The Governor has directed that all impounded vehicles currently in TIMAAS custody must be removed on or before December 30, 2022, failing which the vehicles are there at the owner’s risk.
“The Management of TIMAAS should ensure strict compliance to this directive.”