Two more bodies were on Thursday recovered from the site of Tuesday’s explosion in Ibadan, bringing the toll of fatalities to five.
Special Adviser on Security to the Oyo State governor, Mr Fatai Owoseni made this known on Thursday while giving an update on Tuesday’s incident.
He said: “As of yesterday, we had three bodies, 77 injured, but this morning, the security agencies just sent me a message to say two more bodies were discovered, making five.”
Giving further information on how the incident came about, Owoseni said the explosives had been stored for long such that they easily detonated upon contact with heat.
He stressed that the Old Bodija residents association had a duty to have been more conscious about their environment to have reported their suspicion, assuring that with the personalities in the area, security agencies were more bound to act.
On identity of persons who stored the explosives, Owoseni revealed that a lot of documents were gotten from the site of the explosion which were verifiable by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
Pointing to the challenge of mining being on the exclusive list, he said documents even showed that the persons that owned the apartment even got license for the explosives from federal authorities.
He stressed that mining had to be a collective effort of both the state and federal government as it was people at state and local levels that bore the consequences of illegal mining and its mishandling.
Meanwhile, houses affected in Tuesday’s explosion in Bodija, Ibadan, that failed structural integrity test are to be demolished.
Head, Emergency Situation Room for the Ibadan explosion, Professor Temitope Alonge made this known while addressing journalists on Thursday.
He said the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE) was presently conducting the integrity on buildings in close radius of the explosion and those marked as unsafe to live in anymore will be demolished.
Under huge supervision and with the wearing of helmets, he said what was only allowed was for occupants of the buildings under integrity test to go in and pick valuables, particularly, academic, land documents.
Also speaking on Thursday, state Commissioner for Health, Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi said more victims from the incident continued to be discharged while those still in the hospital were stable.
Meanwhile, the Oyo House of Assembly observed a minute silence for lives lost to the explosion.
Source : Nigerian Tribune
