By Solomon Odeniyi
SOME of the Fire Service Stations built in all the nine federal constituencies in the State of Osun have become overgrown with weeds.
The stations, which were commissioned in 2019 have also been without personnel, OSUN DEFENDER gathered.
Since their commissioning, the stations have remained unused, giving room for untidiness and bushiness of the buildings.
OSUN DEFENDER visited the Ejigbo, Ilesa, Ila-Orangun, Ikirun, Erin-Osun and Ede fire stations and discovered that they had all been taken over by weeds.
The weeds surrounding Ejigbo station, which is situated opposite Unity High School in the town, had earlier been cleared early this year, likewise the Ila-Orangun and Ikirun stations at Stadium and Eko-Ende junctions respectively.
It could not be ascertained whether the bushy environments of Ilesa, Erin-Osun and Ede stations had anytime been cleared this year.
The immediate past administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola had constructed 11 fire stations in Ejigbo, Ilesa, Ila-Orangun, Ikirun, Erin-Osun, Ikire, Ipetu-Ijesa, Ede, Esa-Oke, Ife.
But the fire station in Esa-Oke is yet to be completed as at the time of filing this report.
Some of the fire stations were commissioned by Governor Adegboyega Oyetola in August and December last year.
When contacted, the Administrative Officer, Osun Fire Service, Mr. Fatai Aremu, said the agency had been responsible for the maintenance of the stations, noting that efforts are in top gear to deploy personnel to the new fire stations.
According to Aremu, there is need for electrification of the stations, which is part of the reasons why they have not been put to use.
“We are also working on the maintenance and recruitment of personnel and this current administration of Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola is committed to that”, he said.
