Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, in fresh update on the explosion in his State capital, Ibadan, has disclosed a person of interest has been identified for the explosion.
Governor Makinde also disclosed that the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) certificate of a mining company indicted for Tuesday’s explosion in the Bodija area of Oyo State showed some foreign names as owners.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Makinde made these fresh disclosures on Wednesday when he featured on Channels TV Politics Today programme.
Speaking on the incident that has claimed the lives of three persons thus far, the Governor clarified the explosion has nothing to do with banditry and insurgency, but illegal miners that stored explosives in a residential area.
“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.
“It is not anything that has to do with banditry and insurgency but illegal miners that stored explosives in a residential area,” Makinde said.
The Oyo State Governor stressed investigations are ongoing and that all those found culpable for the act will be brought to book.
Makinde, however, confirmed that one person was rescued alive from the rubbles of the explosion.
“We recovered one individual alive today (Wednesday) under the rubble. 60 of the 77 people hospitalised have been discharged,” he said.
Makinde 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.
He also disclosed that those whose houses were destroyed had been provided temporary shelter in hotels in Bodija and in the Agodi areas of the State capital.