Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has cautioned residents of Bodija explosion to vacate their residence for now until the whole area is well secured.
Addressing journalists in a world press conference shortly after his visit to the scene of the explosion at Governor’s Office Press Center, Agodi Secretariat, Makinde cautioned the victims of the incident not to go into their houses for now for the place is not safe.
The governor who briefed journalists alongside his Special Adviser on Security, CP Fatai Owoseni (retd), the state commissioner of police, Mr Adebola Hamzat, the team leader of the state emergency response team, Prof. Temitope Alonge among others said, “We are appealing to the the victims to vacate their residence for now, they should not go in there to take any of their properties, security agencies are on ground to ensure safety of their properties.
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“We have set up an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) located in Bodija Housing, we want the victims to go there and register their details.
“ As at the time I visited the site this afternoon, some buildings due to the weakness of the structures are still collapsing and we need to ensure that the entire place is well secured before anybody can go in there.
“They should give us like two or more days to ensure the entire place is well secured before they can go in there, we don’t want further casualties, nothing will happen to their properties, I have instructed the security agencies to deal with anybody that wants to loot their properties.”
Makinde, who attributed the incident to the storage off explosive devices by illegal miners, said, “All that are involved directly and indirectly for bringing this tragedy to us will be brought to book.”
The governor also warned the public to refrain from misinformation and disinformation.
‘’We will ensure there is no breakdown of law and order. We are on top of the situation. If you see any strange thing, alert the authorities and we will do something and we are doing something,”Makinde said.
The governor said the number of casualties had not changed but there were three fatalities, while 77 persons were affected.
In his remark, Owoseni said: ‘’Almost immediately, the Governor gave an instruction and it was promptly complied with. The area has been secured. Hoodlums have been prevented from carrying out looting.
‘’It was an explosion. We want to use this opportunity to say it is incorrect for people to say Boko Haram elements have infiltrated Ibadan. Preliminary investigation indicates that for a period explosive devices have been stored there. Security will continue to manage the security of the area.”
The team lead of Emergency Operations Center, Alonge said: ‘’Other patients are stable and we are monitoring their situation.”
In his address, the Director General of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha Abeeb Ahmed said the “Search and rescue is still ongoing, this is something that occurred last night and as we speak, that is why the place need to be evaluated so that people don’t step on other people, because search and rescue has not been concluded.”
