Smarting residents of Adeyi Avenue in Bodija, Ibadan, Oyo State, have held Malian illegal foreign miners, largely Malian nationals, responsible for the massive that shook the ancient city on Tuesday night.
The blast left at least three persons dead, scores of others injured, and ruined property worth billions.
Rattled, President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, called on the relevant government agencies to “fish out” and “punish” those responsible for what he called “reckless behaviour.”
The reckless engagement the President noted touched off the devastating blast in Ibadan and the attendant loss of lives and private property of residents.
He also expressed sadness over the incident he described as “worrisome.”
A survivor of the explosion said it was foreigners, who engaged in illegal mining activities, that caused the explosion. He added that the miners fled just before the blast.
According to Vanguard, the survivor, Alhaji Mohammed Musa, lived next to the epicentre (ground zero) of the explosion.
It has been revealed that one of the deceased is a United Kingdom, UK, returnee.
A viral video credits one Honourable Ayode Jajaye as stating that the UK returnee is the son of one of the landlords in the Ibadan estate where the explosion occurred.
He said: “Look at the guy that just died. He just came from the UK about a week ago. He’s a son to a landlord in this estate.
“My conclusion is that the government should investigate this situation. The casualties are too much. Look at damages. We can’t just look away.
“There are so many collateral damages that have happened.”
At the scene of the blast a body was brought out of the rubble and put in a body bag.
Earlier, The Daily Crucible reports that the Oyo State Government had announced that two people died and 77 injured in the unfortunate incident. Also, a survivor who was seriously injured was wheeled into a waiting ambulance.
The survivor, Mohammed said he was rushed to the hospital and discharged later.
He said he escaped death by the whiskers because he offered to help his neighbor put out the fire that preceded the explosion.
Narrating the events that preceded the explosion, Vanguard quoted Mohammed as saying : “Around 7 p.m. on Tuesday night, was going to pray.
“As I was standing to start the prayer, I noticed some fire burning in the next house. So, I stopped the prayer and quickly picked my fire extinguisher.
“I told my boys that the neighbor’s house is on fire, let’s go and help.
“I then came downstairs. One guy saw me and said the fire was beyond what an extinguisher can put out. I then picked my phone to call the fire brigade men.
“However, the next thing I heard was that blast. It threw me off the ground and landed me on the stairs. Part of the house had cracked. My boys advised that I should jump.
“Fire started just a metre away from that house and as of the time we came downstairs, there was no one on the premises.”
Also, speaking on the occupants of the house, he said: “The house where the fire started is occupied by a Senagalese or Namibian and they engage in mining activities.
“Definitely, they had explosives inside the building. The explosion was as a result of the explosives kept in the building.
“The foreigners have been living in here since 2013. They go in the morning and come back in the evening. I wouldn’t know if their immediate neighbour knows they are into mining.”
“The foreigners ran out before the explosion.”
Furthermore, he clarified that immediately after the foreigners saw the raging fire, they knew the implications because of what they kept inside.
Mohammed said: “They, including their children, ran out of the house and they didn’t alert us so that we could run away too.
Another survivor who identified himself as Adeleke told an Ibadan based local radio station, Lagelu FM, that his brother called Oladipupo who sought to go out to attend to something, died after a sharp object propelled by the explosion ripped his stomach open.
