The federal government has ordered a thorough investigation into the explosion at a mining site that occurred on Sunday at Sabon Pegi in Mashegun local government area of Niger State, with a pledge that the cuplrits must not go unpunished.
Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake who revealed this to journalists in Abuja on Monday, said the ministry had already dispatched officials of the Federal Mines Office in the affected state to the blast site for an on-the-spot assessment.
According to Alake, preliminary investigations suggest that the explosion was caused by illegal stockpiling of explosives by one Yushua Maikampala, a resident of New Bussa.
Maikampala, he said, is believed to have been involved in purchasing and storing explosives and their accessories in a house in Sabo Pegi.
Eyewitnesses said the explosion was triggered by an electrical spark at 7am on Sunday, destroying the building where the explosives were stored and damaging about 20 other houses in the vicinity.
At least, two fatalities have been confirmed in the incident.
The minister described the incident as avoidable, given the negligence surrounding the handling and illegal storage of explosives by the alleged culprit.
Alake, therefore, directed relevant ministry officials, including the Mines Inspectorate Department to carry out forensic analysis of soil samples collected from the blast site to determine the source of the explosives, which would guide the next course of action.
“Security agencies have been put on the trail of the suspected culprit. He will be apprehended to face justice,” Alake assured.
LEADERSHIP recalls that last year, a huge blast rocked Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, caused by explosives stored by illegal miners.
Two people were killed and 77 others were injured in the explosion that affected seven suburbs and sent panic among residents of Nigeria’s third most-populous city.
Like in the instant case, the federal government instituted a forensic enquiry into the blast which recommended the prosecution of three culprits.
