Oyo state House of Assembly has disclosed the identity of the person behind the explosion that rocked Ibadan few days ago as Sawani Yusuf.
While the nationality of the alleged culprit remains unconfirmed, the Assembly called on security agencies to intensify efforts at bringing all connected to the explosion to book.
The House made this known on Thursday January 18 during its Tuesday plenary sitting at the Parliamentary building, Agodi Secretariat, Ibadan.
Majority Leader of the House, Honourable Sanjo Adedoyin disclosed the identity of the foregner whose property at Dejo Oyelese area of Bodija where the explosion occurred, allegedly housed the explosive device.
The deliberation followed a motion presented to the House by Honourable Adebayo Babajide representing Ibadan North II in a motion titled “RGENT NEED FOR ALL REGULATORY AGENCIES TO ENFORCE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS ESPECIALLY IN HANDLING AND STORING OF EXPLOSIVES (DYNAMITES) IN VIEW OF THE EXPLOSION THAT ROCKED OLD BODIJA AREA OF IBADAN ON TUESDAY, 16TH JANUARY, 2024.”
The House, while frowning at the manner in which such explosive device was brought and kept in a residential area. wondering who authorized keeping or storing of such devices in the house, the legislature equally queried where and how were the dynamites were stored in the said building leading to the disaster.
The House also queried how long had the dynamites been kept in the area, for what purpose(s) were the devices kept or stored, what were the safety measures put in place to avert potential blast, was there regular inspection to ascertain any sign of deterioration, damage or malfunction, were the security agents aware of the development, why would someone keep such amount of dynamites in residential area, among other salient questions the house noted begged for answers.
Lawmakers in their separate submissions lamented the explosion incident while noting that Ojoo Gem Stone market remains the largest in Africa with many expatriates living within the area. The House called on government and security agencies to expand investigation net to ensure that no stone was left unturned in the bid to holistically address aftermath of explosion.
While commending Governor Seyi Makinde for his prompt response, payment of hospital bills of those who died at the incident and provision of alternative accommodation for the displaced residents, the House equally expressed appreciation to the Security Agencies (Nigeria Army, Nigeria Police, Civil Defence, Amotekun among others) for rising up to the occasion.
The House particularly commended the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA and the Oyo State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA for their prompt deployment of manpower to the scene of the explosion, while appealing to the Federal Government and its emergency response agencies to come to the aid of victims of the blast.
Further, the House called on Security Agencies to condone off scene of the incident and thoroughly search the area for possible left over of the explosives.
While urging security agencies to embark on intelligence gathering to identify residences of other possible illegal miners and expatriates who may be keeping or storing such Explosive Devices in other areas or neighbourhoods in Oyo State. The House further appealed to all regulatory agencies to enforce safety precautions especially in handling and storing of explosives (dynamites) among others.
In his remark, the Speaker, Honourable Adebo Ogundoyin said: “We can discuss different angles to how the situation affects us and different solutions as to ensuring that this situation never occurs again but for now let us wait for the outcome of security investigation shed more light on the happenings. As soon as we have more information I’m sure we’ll be able to deliberate further as to the next action move.
“We also want the Ministry of Environment to look at the state Environmental Laws to see whether or not there are consequences for such actions that has happened and if there is not then there are lacuna in the laws and we have to take immediate steps towards that.”
He however, directed House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources to investigate the provisions of the law to determine the next legislative action and ordered the committee to report its findings back to the House within one week.
