Oyo state governor ‘Seyi Makinde have cautioned residents and property owners at old Bodija area of the explosion which occurred Tuesday night to stay away from location until proper structural assessment is carried out to forestall further disaster.
He also warned unscrupulous element with intentions to loot to steer clear as security agencies will deal ruthlessly with any culprit caught.
Governor Makinnde gave the advice on Wednesday during a joint press conference with security agencies at the governor office, Press center, secretariat, Ibadan
“Let me use this opportunity to appeal to anyone who is staying in any of the houses within 250 meters of ‘ground zero to move out to government provided accomodations until we check the structural integrity of the buildings in this area.
” At the same time, unscrupulous element who may want to take advantage of this disaster to carry out any form of looting should be warned , I have asked security agencies to deal decisively with anyone trying to loot , they have been placed on high alert to ensure there is no breakdown of law and order.
Governor Makinde who disclosed that preliminary information as regards the company using the resident to store explosives has been made available, assued that “all that were involved directly or indirectly in bringing this tragedy upon us will be brought to book. “
He said search and rescue operations will continue until all lives within the vicinity of the blast are protected.
The governor appealed to the people of the state to remain calm as it intensify efforts to provide succor to the victims
He urged the public to be mindful of how information are diseminated.
“We are on top of the situation, we have always admonished our people that be aware of what is happening in your neighborhood.,If you see any strange movement or thing , alert the authority and then we will do something about it and we are doing something about the situation we have found ourselves.
Governor Makinde who said the number of victims injured remains at 77 with three deaths recorded so far urged the public particularly journalists to verify facts by engaging with the authorities.
” Don’t add to the problem by not being straight with what you are sending out to the people. If there is an individual that has approached you to say I don’t know where to go, I have been to some of the hotels and have met people in there, I have met professors, diasporans and also dealt with local people , I know where Emergency Operation Center EOC is located and you are seeing us here, bring them forward, we will deal with the situation immediately. We have asked the hotels to take in anybody from the blast site that shows up to be accomodated . So, you don’t need any special permit, just go out there,let them know your identity and then, we are dealing with the situation as we move along.
” He hinted that he had received a call from President Bola Tinubu before the commencement of the press conference and gotten his approval for the release of the National Emergency Management Agency NEMA to support the state government.
” He has given his assurance that whatever we need to do to address this issue, we should bring it up.
Special Adviser on Security to the governor, C.P Fatai Owoseni rtd, government have been engaging with different resident associations in the main street and adjoining street, infact, the association will be meeting with the members of the Emergency team at the Housing Corporation, we want to work with them on how to properly secure them, how to have esse of access and exit out of that place. As I mentioned before, we have been lucky, we have not recovered any untoward incident with regards to security and it’s still a work in progress and we believe that factoring them into our security plan and initiatives , we will be able to have hundred percent secured environment.
Oyo State Commissioner of Police , Adebola Hamzat described as untrue, insinuations that the occupant of the house where the explosion took place had been arrested at a point in time and later released by the police.
” As I superintend over policing of this state, we don’t have any information of such.
