By Chesa Chesa
President Bola Tinubu has expressed sadness over the devastating explosion that occurred on Tuesday night in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The explosion killed two persons and wounded about 80 others. It also destroyed several buildings, vehicles, and other properties.
“It is worrisome that the cause of the blast is being attributed to the activities of illegal miners. Those behind the inexcusable and reckless behaviour that has created the conditions for the sad incident to occur must be fished out and punished,” the President said, according to a press statement issued by his office on Wednesday.
“President Tinubu commiserated with the government and people of Oyo State and called on all concerned agencies of government to unravel the circumstances that led to the tragedy with alacrity.
“The President directs the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to work with the Oyo State Government to offer immediate and comprehensive relief to the victims”, said the statement issued by presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale.
At a meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), which President Tinubu chaired on Wednesday, an investigative panel was set up to report on the laws broken in handling of explosives, one of the reason attributed for the tragedy.
Minister of Defence, Abubakar Badaru, announced this to journalists after the FEC meeting, declaring that any infractions will be sanctioned appropriately.
His words: “The Governor (of Oyo State) said preliminary investigation suggests that there are some explosives around the area that it happened that are owned by illegal miners. Well, we have also seen another report suggesting gas explosion.
“So our team is there trying to find out what is the cause.
“We have seen that report but the Council, to be proactive, has already set up a committee to look into how the control of explosives law is broken, if indeed there are explosives around the area where this incident happened.
“That was why the committee was set up to look at the laws, to see where the chain is broken and to see how it can be fixed; and find out more information if this is happening rampantly around the country.
“You all know that there’s strict law on the movement, storage and ownership of explosives and that is being monitored and if there’s any breakdown, we will find out and deal with it.”
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