By Iyabo Adebisi
Federal Government says it will not make any categorical statement until Investigations are concluded on the explosion which rocked Old Bodija, Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.
Minister of Mines and Solid Minerals, Mr Dele Alake stated this while speaking with journalists at the scene of the explosion.
The minister was received at the site of the explosion by the incident manager, Emergence Operation centre set up by the Oyo state government following the incident, Professor Temitope Alonge.
Mr Dele said it would be presumptuous for the Federal government to make hasty decision without considering necessary stakeholders inputs to make an informed judgement and categorical statement.
The minister gave assurance that the Federal government would pay attention to various concerns of people involved before taking the final decision.
“After going through the site and going to the hospital to see the victims and to commiserate with them, their families and loved ones, there is need for me to pay a courtesy call on the governor who has done a yeoman’s job and commendable job in terms of speed of his response to this unfortunate incident”
“Recall that I told you that the President put a phone call to him, to commend him and sympathised with him and the people of the state and the victims and also issued a statement after expressing his own sentiments”
“So, this is a combination of the establishment and acknowledgement of the federal government of what the Oyo State governor and government has done, and this is very remarkable, the president is very impressed, we are all impressed, no body wishes anybody any disaster but wish our people respond commendable to any unfortunate situation, not even unfortunate but any situation at all”
And on our own part, we immediately swung into action, but like I keep saying, we will also allow the investigative agencies, various technical agencies to conclude their forensic investigation before we make any categorical, verifiable and authentic statement on the issue
All the issues attending day will be reveal at the end if the investigation and everybody will kept well informed
But my role here is to come and commiserate with the governor and commend his very efficient and effective effort that he out in place immediately after the unfortunate incident
Mr Alake noted that prior to the incident, the federal government had been mapping out a strategy, working with security agencies to secure the nation’s natural resources, citing the setting up of a committee on the development last week by President Bola Tinubu.
While condoling with the Oyo state government and the victims of the ugly incident, Mr Alake urged Nigerians to be security conscious and report strange happenings to the relevant authorities.
The Minister thereafter proceeded to the University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan to empathise with the victims of the Ibadan explosion.
The Minister who later paid a visit to the Oyo state governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde commended Oyo state government for its prompt response of the situation, assuring that the outcome of the investigation would not be swept under the carpet.
Responding, Governor Makinde, who noted that government was awaiting the conclusion of investigation before the next line of action, urged the people to be patient as government was making efforts to ensure that the people affected were comfortable.
He said: “We would wait for the reports from the teams carrying out the structural integrity test, but the bottom line is, first, we need to extend the temporary accomodation we had given to people.
“We also need to ensure that the place is safe and secure.
“All the forensic pathologists; what they are doing we have to encourage them to continue. But there is still a lot to be done.
“I don’t think we have faced this kind of calamity around here before, so people should be patient with us. We will do everything on the part of the government here to ensure that people actually get looked after.”
He said: “We would wait for the reports from the teams carrying out the structural integrity test, but the bottom line is, first, we need to extend the temporary accomodation we had given to people.
“We also need to ensure that the place is safe and secure.
“All the forensic pathologists; what they are doing we have to encourage them to continue. But there is still a lot to be done.
“I don’t think we have faced this kind of calamity around here before, so people should be patient with us. We will do everything on the part of the government here to ensure that people get looked after.”
Meanwhile, Oyo state governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde during the weekend presented the report of the explosion at Dejo Oyelese Close, Adeyi Avenue, Bodija, Ibadan to President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.
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