According to Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, 60 of the 77 victims of the explosion in Ibadan have received treatment and been released from hospital.

On Tuesday, 16 January 2024, an explosion shook several areas of Ibadan, resulting in numerous reported injuries and the destruction of millions of Naira worth of property.

Makinde stated on Wednesday, 17 January 2024, that initial inquiries showed that the explosion was caused by explosives that were kept in one of the homes in the Bodija neighbourhood of the State Capital by unlicensed miners.

According to the Governor, 77 people were injured and two people died.

Related News: Man Rescued from Ibadan Explosion

The Governor stated that illegal miners who kept explosives in residential areas were the source of the explosion during an appearance on Channels TV Politics Today on Wednesday, 17 January 2024.

Makinde affirmed that the explosion was unrelated to banditry or insurgency activity and promised to hold those responsible accountable.

He said, “Our situation is that we lost now about three lives. One individual was confirmed dead today and also recovered the corpse. But also, on the good side, we were able to recover an individual alive earlier today from under the rubble. So it’s been a feeling of devastation.”

“What I will say is that the government is completely on top of the situation; out of the 77 that were involved yesterday night, about 60 have been treated and discharged. The majority of them have been rendered homeless, and we have provided temporary accommodation for them.”

“And when I visited Ground Zero this afternoon, I asked that anybody living within a 50-meter radius of Ground Zero should leave because we don’t know much about the structural integrity of those buildings.”

Additionally, he said that they had located the company responsible for storing explosives in that specific building and that the Security Services should be interviewed.

He insisted that everyone who helped bring this atrocity will face consequences. Furthermore, neither banditry nor insurgency are related to the incident. “It is simply illegal miners who decided to go to an area that is meant for people to live in and were using that place for storage of explosives,” the statement reads.