Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has received an official report on the January 16, explosion in the Old Bodija area of Ibadan, which claimed five lives, injured 77 persons and destroyed 58 houses.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, Fatai Owoseni, a retired Commissioner of Police, disclosed to newsmen that the report linked three persons to the explosion.
He said the three persons would be prosecuted.
The report, it was learnt, comprises findings of the medical, security and engineering teams set up by the government.
Addressing newsmen shortly after the presentation of the report, Owoseni said, “Three persons of interest have been identified in connection with the cause of the unfortunate incident, and they will face prosecution based on the investigation carried out.”
He explained that one of the affected houses captured the footage of how the incident happened, stressing that the state government would bring the perpetrators to book.
Owoseni noted that the governor, last week, signed an Executive Order, “which has placed obligations on people that deal with explosives or do businesses where they use explosives,” to report within 72 hours.
The Chairman, Nigeria Institute of Structural Engineers, Mbim Okutinyang, who is also the lead coordinator of the team that carried out structural integrity on the affected houses, said his team covered 282 houses and that only four of the houses would have to be demolished due to the degrees of the damage, adding that the seismic report was still being awaited.
The Head of the Emergency Operation Centre, Temitope Alonge, said 80 victims in total were managed across various hospitals following the incident but that only five patients were on admission as of the time of the press conference.
He explained that four of the patients were being treated after the explosion at the University College Hospital and were at various levels of recovery, while one patient was being managed for a spinal cord injury at the Redeemers Hospital.
