Ibadan explosion: Tinubu condoles with Oyo, FEC raises committee on explosive laws review

Ibadan explosion: Tinubu condoles with Oyo, FEC raises committee on explosive laws review

President Bola Tinubu has expressed sadness over the devastating explosion that occurred on Tuesday night in Ibadan.

The condolence message was issued Wednesday by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity Ajuri Ngelale.

Tinubu commiserated with Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, the government and the people of the state, condemning the wanton loss of lives and the destruction of properties due to activities of illegal miners.

The explosion killed two persons and wounded about 80 others.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has set up a committee to review the laws guiding the control of explosives in the country to determine whether they were violated by illegal miners whose activities led to Tuesday’s deadly explosion in Ibadan.

Minister of Defence Mohammed Badaru Abubakar disclosed this on Wednesday while addressing journalists after the FEC meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja.

He also warned the public against crowdfunding to pay ransoms for kidnapped victims, saying it would only worsen the spate of abductions.

According to Badaru, the council expressed worries about the incident and noted the need to avert future occurrences, noting that despite preliminary investigations suggesting that explosives stored by illegal miners may have been the cause, there was also suspicion in some quarters that gas may have been to blame.

He noted that federal agents were now on the ground at the scene of the incident to ascertain the cause and ways to prevent future occurrences.

The minister said, “The 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.

“Well, we have seen that report. There is another report suggesting that it was a gas explosion. So, our team are there trying to find out what is the cause.

“But for the council to be proactive, it has already set up the committee that I told you to look into how the control of explosives law was broken if indeed there are explosives around the area where this incident happened.