Oyo Govt To Prosecute Three Over Ibadan Blast

Following the receipt of the report of the January 16, 2024 explosion at Aderinola Street, Bodija in Ibadan, the Oyo State government has disclosed that three persons would face prosecution over the unfortunate explosion that rocked the state.

The report, which comprises findings of the Medical, Security and Engineering Teams, was submitted to Governor Seyi Makinde on Tuesday, at the Executive Chamber of the Governor’s Office, Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan.

Addressing a press conference at the Briefing Room of the Governor’s Office shortly after the presentation of the report, the Special Adviser on Security to the Governor, Fatai Owoseni, said that three persons of interest have been identified in connection with the cause of the unfortunate incident.

He added that the identified persons will face prosecution based on the investigation carried out.

Owoseni also clarified that the street where the incident happened is Aderinola Street and not Dejo Oyelese Street, as earlier widely reported, adding that the epicentre of the tragedy is No. 8A and No. 8B.

The Security Adviser also revealed that the character of the explosive is known as a “Water Gel Type Based Explosive” and that the explosion was triggered by an electric spark, explaining further that a Closed Circuit Television in one of the affected houses gave footage of how the incident happened.

Mr. Owoseni however assured that the state government would bring the perpetrators to book, and check the immigration status of all the people of interest since a majority of them are from Mali.

He said: “We have been able to report that the swiftness with which security was deployed to the epicentre had so far successfully made the state to 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 situation centre was put in place by the governor, and was located at the premises of Oyo 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,” he added.