The explosion was heard at the Agbowo, Sango, Orogun and Bodija areas of the city on Tuesday.
Some victims of the Tuesday night explosion that rocked Ibadan, the Oyo State capital have lamented being neglected and homeless despite the state government’s claim of providing temporary accommodation to the victims at Carlton Gate Hotel and 77 Palms Hotel.
The explosion was heard at the Agbowo, Sango, Orogun and Bodija areas of the city on Tuesday.
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde on Wednesday morning said that two people were killed in the explosion and that 77 others were injured.
The governor said a preliminary investigation revealed that the explosion was caused by explosives stored by illegal miners occupying a house in the Bodija area of the city.
Giving an update on the situation of the victims of the incident on X, the state government said the victims were housed at Carlton Gate Hotel and 77 Palms Hotel and Governor Seyi Makinde visited them on Wednesday morning.
“This morning, Governor Seyi Makinde visited Carlton Gate Hotel and 77 Palms Hotel to see the victims of the Bodija incident who are being temporarily accommodated by the Oyo State Government. Governor Makinde thanked the hotel proprietors for their support and directed that a deposit be made to cover the expenses incurred,” the state government wrote.
However, SaharaReporters discovered on a visit to the scene of the disaster on Wednesday that numerous victims were still being neglected, unable to find a place to lay their heads after losing their homes to the explosion.
One of the victims who spoke to SaharaReporters doubted the state government’s statement on the provision of accommodation to the victims
She said, “What have they alleviated? They said they booked hotels for victims, which hotels, who saw the hotels? everybody had to go and look for where to sleep. All those are policy statements to make them look good in the face of the public. Nobody has come here to ask anybody questions from the government agencies. They(victims) are all these hanging around and miscreant had invaded (the scene).”
The Redeemed Health Centre, close to the site of the blast, had four victims from the incident left on admission when SaharaReporters visited the hospital.
SaharaReporters learnt that more than a dozen victims were taken to the hospital immediately after the explosion on Tuesday evening but some have been discharged while some others with critical cases had been referred to the University College Hospital.
One of the victims left at the hospital, Oluwakemi Akande survived with bruises on her face and injuries on her arm and leg.
She lamented that what she lost to the incident could not be quantified as “I lost everything”.
“When I heard the loud bang, I thought it came from the cooking gas at home but I soon realised it was bigger. It affected my face, arm and leg. I was brought to the hospital that night.
“My house is gone; the building was destroyed. I’m homeless now because I don’t know where I will sleep when I’m discharged from the hospital. We will need to start from scratch. We will need the government’s support to rebuild everything. I cannot quantify what I lost; it is too much,” she said.
Another victim who spoke to SaharaReporters lamented that he did not know where to start from.
“You can see for yourself; everything is gone. The whole house has been destroyed. How do you come back from this? I don’t even know where I will sleep tonight, let alone know how tomorrow will be,” he said.
Another victim who identified himself as Taiwo Salami also claimed he had not seen any drastic action from the state government to relieve them of their losses.
“The governor was here in the midnight; the deputy governor was before him. We need to see action. We need to see how they are going to help people around here. Particularly the older ones, this is their life investment, it is all gone. The government really needs to show empathy,” he told SaharaReporters.