Makinde, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Wednesday night, also said the death toll in the unfortunate blast had risen to three as one more victim died in a hospital today.
“We recovered one individual alive today (Wednesday) under the rubble. 60 of the 77 people hospitalised have been discharged,” the governor said.
“We are trying to uncover the identities of the people. We’ve done a few fact-finding on the company involved and yes, there are indeed some foreign names on the CAC documents of the company involved but these are still early days. We don’t have anything to cover,” he said.
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| Scenes of an explosion in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Tuesday, January 16, 2024 |
“It is not anything that has to do with banditry and insurgency but illegal miners that stored explosives in a residential area,” the governor clarified.
He said the state government has no reason for cover-up and that the people of state should trust his administration.
Makinde said he would seek presidential approval for miners to store explosives with the military, and that he would sign an executive order in the coming days to that effect.
The governor said those whose houses were destroyed had been provided temporary shelter in hotels in Bodija and in the Agodi areas of the state capital.
There was panic in Ibadan on Tuesday evening as loud explosion rocked the ancient city, with buildings collapsing due to terrific vibration.
Residents, who spoke with Channels Television, said houses and cars far from the scene of the explosion were impacted by the blast wave.
“We heard a loud bang around 07:30pm. Dominos shattered, Ace Mall in Bodija destroyed,” a panic-stricken resident told our correspondent over the phone.
Victims were rushed to hospitals while some residents were trapped in the rubble of buildings that caved in due to the impact of the blast.
The governor, who visited the scene on Tuesday night, said preliminary investigations by security agencies revealed that the blast was caused by illegal miners occupying one of the houses in Bodija, adding that the explosion occurred at Adeyi Avenue, Bodija, but the vibration was felt in many parts of the city.
He said investigations are ongoing and all those found culpable for the act will be brought to book.
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