The governor, while featuring on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Wednesday evening, also said the death toll in the deadly blast had risen to three as one more victim died in a hospital on Wednesday.
The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has said that the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) certificate of a mining company responsible for Tuesday night’s explosion in the Bodija area of Ibadan, the state capital showed some foreign names as owners of the company.
The governor, while featuring on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Wednesday evening, also said the death toll in the deadly blast had risen to three as one more victim died in a hospital on Wednesday.
Governor Makinde further said that the state government had identified an individual of interest that security agents should invite for questioning.
He said, “We recovered one individual alive today (Wednesday) under the rubble. Sixty of the 77 people hospitalised have been discharged.
“We are trying to uncover the identities of the people. We’ve done a few fact-finding on the company involved and yes, there are indeed some foreign names on the CAC documents of the company involved but these are still early days. We don’t have anything to cover.”
Ruling out terrorism, he said, “It is not anything that has to do with banditry and insurgency but illegal miners that stored explosives in a residential area.”
According to him, the state government has no reason for cover-up, adding that the people of the state should trust his administration.
He said he would seek presidential approval for miners to store explosives with the military, and that he would sign an executive order in the coming days to that effect.
Makinde added that those whose houses were destroyed had been provided temporary shelter in hotels in the Bodija and the Agodi areas of the state capital.
Earlier, on Wednesday, residents of the area told SaharaReporters that a Malian family was responsible for the deadly explosion that rocked the Ibadan metropolis.
“The owner of the building is Malian and he has been living there for long; he didn’t just move there. He has a Malian wife and also has a Yoruba wife. It is the family that engages in mining,” one of the sources said.
However, the residents could not confirm the whereabouts of the Malian family or if they were among the casualties.