Ibadan blast: FG sets up committee to review laws on explosives

The Federal Executive Council said on Wednesday that a committee has been formed to examine the legislation governing the nation’s explosives management.

This follows the terrible explosion that shook the capital of Oyo state, the ancient city of Ibadan, on Tuesday night.

The Minister of Defense, Mohammed Abubakar, told State House Correspondents following the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday that the committee would decide whether these were broken by the illegal miners found in the preliminary investigations by security services.

At the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja, under the direction of President Bola Tinubu, the council voiced concerns regarding the incident and stressed the need to prevent similar incidents in the future.

In addition to destroying numerous cars, buildings, and other items, the explosion resulted in over 80 injuries and at least two verified deaths.

When visiting the scene of the incident, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde confirmed the number of casualties and added that the explosion happened at Adeyi Avenue in Bodija.

In many parts of the city, however, people said they could feel and hear the blast from kilometers away.

According to Makinde, security authorities’ first inquiries showed that the explosion was caused by unauthorized miners who had taken over one of the homes in Bodija.

Abubakar stated that although initial inquiries connected the tragedy to explosives kept by unauthorized miners, the police are not ruling out gas as a potential reason.

Nonetheless, federal authorities are present to determine the incident’s immediate and distant causes.

“First question has to do with the Ibadan explosion where the governor said that preliminary investigation suggested that there are some explosives around the area where it happened that are owned by some illegal miners,” he remarked in response to inquiries about the matter.

“Well, that report has been seen by us. According to a different source, there was a gas explosion. Thus, our staff is there attempting to identify the reason.

If there are explosives in the vicinity of the incident, the council has already formed the committee I instructed you to look into how the control of explosives law was broken. This is an example of the proactive nature of the council.

In order “to see where the chain is broken and see how it can be fixed and gather more information if this is happening rampantly around the country,” the Minister stated that the committee was constituted to evaluate the legislation governing the control of explosives.

As everyone is aware, there are tight regulations governing the ownership, transportation, and storage of these explosives, and these regulations are closely watched. He continued, “If there is a breakdown, we will investigate and address it.

Prior to the explosion, Tinubu urged the appropriate government agencies to “fish out” and “punish” people who he claimed were engaging in “reckless behavior,” which set off the explosion.

He said he was saddened by the situation and called it “worrisome.”

The President expressed concern in a statement authored by Ajuri Ngelale, his Special Advisor on Media and Publicity, stating, “It is concerning that the explosion’s cause is being linked to the operations of unauthorized miners.”

“Those responsible for the unacceptable and careless actions that allowed the tragic event to happen need to be found and dealt with.”