PUNCH
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Tuesday, received an official report of the January 16, 2024 explosion at Adeyi Avenue, Old Bodija in Ibadan, the state capital.
The report, however, said three ‘persons of interest’ have been identified in connection with the cause of the unfortunate incident, adding that they will face the full wrath of the law based on the investigation carried out.
It will be recalled that five persons died, 77 others sustained injury and 55 houses were damaged during the explosion that rocked Aderinola Street, Adeyi Avenue, Old Bodija, Ibadan.
The report, which comprises findings of the Medical, Security and Engineering Teams, was submitted to Makinde, on Tuesday, at the Executive Chamber, Governor’s Office, Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan.
Addressing newsmen shortly after the presentation of the report, the Special Adviser on Security to the Governor, Fatai Owoseni (retd CP) said, “Three persons of interest have been identified in connection with the cause of the unfortunate incident, and they will face prosecution based on the investigation carried out.”
He explained that a Closed Circuit Television in one of the affected houses gave footage of how the incident happened, insisting that the state government would bring the perpetrators to book.
“The character of the explosive is known as ‘Water Gel Type Based Explosive’ and the explosion was triggered by an electric spark. The government will check on the immigration status of all the people of interest since a majority of them are from Mali. The street where the incident happened was Aderinola Street and not Dejo Oyelese Street, as earlier reported. The epicentre of the tragedy is No. 8A and No. 8B.
“We have been able to report that the swiftness with which security was deployed to the epicentre had so far successfully made the state fully secure the environment. And with the security that was provided, the state has also been able to prevent untoward happenings, especially opportunistic crimes that hoodlums always take advantage of such situations to carry out. We would recall that an emergency centre was put in place by the governor and was located at the premises of the state Housing Corporation, Ibadan.
“The EOC has so far collated information, data of things that happened there and some of the data collated include census of the respective houses and the fatalities that were affected including the extent of losses suffered. As of 6 p.m. on Friday, February 3, which was the 18th day of the incident, a total of 335 affected persons registered at the emergency centre including 16 companies or business operators, churches, mosques, three schools and the University College Hospital also approached the centre to report on their losses.
