By Peter Ejiofor
A Ugandan national, suspected to be on a revenge mission against his father, has set fire to the workshop of Nigerians involved in automobile dealings in Vom Hagen Street, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa.
A Nigeria Union South Africa (NUSA) statement on Tuesday noted that nine cars and auto parts worth more than a million, five hundred and fifty thousand Rands (R1,550,000.00) were damaged by the fire.
The statement by Mr Habib Miller, the National Publicity Secretary of NUSA, said the incident occurred on Sept. 5, in Mr Owolabi Gbadamosi workshop, and affected other associates of the business.
It said that NUSA representatives, led by the Acting President, Mrs Doris-Ikeri Solarin had visited the scene and sympathised with their affected compatriots.
On the NUSA delegation were Mr Trust Owoyele (National Treasurer), Mr Yomi Awosemo (National Assistant Welfare Officer) and Mr Olaniyi Abodedele (a.ka,The Voice), the NUSA Gauteng Chairman.
Prior to the visit, the union said it had informed Mr Christopher Oguri who is in charge of Consular matters at the Consulate General of Nigeria in Johannesburg, South Africa about the incident.
The statement noted that the goal was to exhaust every possibility within the laws of South Africa to see if the affected Nigerians could get some compensation that would bring some level of succour to them.
It noted that the suspected arsonist was still at large though a case docket had been opened at a Police Station.
It added that Owolabi, narrating how the fire occurred said that he was called around 7 p.m. on the fateful day, after he and his colleagues had closed from work around 6 p.m., and left for their various homes in the Province.
“When they got a call informing them about a fire at their business unit, they assumed it was the occasional transformer explosion that occurred within the vicinity.
“That often happens when thieves try to steal cables from the substation. Such blasts did not pose any significant damage to their shop. However, when they got close to the location, they saw flames that indicated something serious had happened.
“When the partners individually arrived at the business property, the fire service were already at the scene trying to douse the inferno,’’ the statement quoted him as saying.
Mr Tunji Balogun, also a cohort influenced by the incident, recounted how he tried to save some of the vehicles while efforts were made to extinguish the raging fire but he was advised against taking such hazardous action by the fire brigade.
This, according to him, was possibly due to the harmful toxic gases that emanates from such a scene, citing that an explosion could lead to severe injuries or death if a safe distance was not maintained.
Before the arson was perpetrated, a Ugandan national, who was subletting part of the location in question was reportedly having a conflict with his son.
The East African man had been operating an automobile spare part business on the property for seven years and sometime last year, he established the same type of business in Atteridgeville Pretoria, and then handed over the motor vehicle components business in Vom Hagen Street to his son.
According to witnesses, this was because the Atteridgeville location was generating satisfactory net income.
His son then secured a loan from his girlfriend and began operation and became somewhat successful.
But in a new twist a month ago, the son of the Ugandan whose name could not be verified at the time of this report carried out a twelve thousand rands (R12,000.00) transaction via his father’s bank account.
This was as a result of his inability to set up one for himself due to documentation challenges.
His father only remitted half of the money to him, and the deed infuriated him so much that he questioned his father’s handling of the situation.
Asking how he was expected to make progress if he is not allowed to reinvest money made into the enterprise, and unable to resolve their dispute, the father decided to reclaim the business from his son, taking advantage of possessing all the legal documents related to the business.
When his son would not vacate the building, after being verbally informed, the father decided to obtain a court order constraining his offspring from his and the business surrounding.
The statement said that weeks before, the son was alleged to have burned the business and things got so heated that he attempted to stab his father but was restricted by mediators.
The son then threatened that it was not the last time the father would hear from him on the matter.
When the business location was set ablaze, the statement said his father was heard continuously lamenting that the fire was perpetrated by his son.
It appears the major target of the arsonist was the portion of his father’s business on the property, nevertheless it escalated to Owolabi and others businesses.
