The Oyo State House of Assembly has revealed that Sawani Yusuf is the miner behind the explosion that wrecked havoc in Ibadan 2 days ago.
Speaking during plenary, the House stated that even if the nationality of the alleged culprit remains unconfirmed, the security agencies must intensify efforts at bringing all the culprits to book.
On his part, the Majority Leader of the House, Sanjo Adedoyin disclosed the identity of the foreigner whose property at Dejo Oyelese area of Bodija where the explosion occurred, allegedly housed the explosive device.
The deliberation followed a motion presented to the House by Adebayo Babajide, representing Ibadan North II in a motion titled: “URGENT NEED FOR ALL REGULATORY AGENCIES TO ENFORCE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS ESPECIALLY IN HANDLING AND STORING OF EXPLOSIVES (DYNAMITES) IN VIEW OF THE EXPLOSION THAT ROCKED OLD BODIJA AREA OF IBADAN ON TUESDAY, 16TH JANUARY, 2024.”
While frowning at how such an explosive device was brought and kept in a residential area, the House wondered who authorised keeping or storing such devices in the house, while querying where and how the dynamites were stored in the said building leading to the disaster.
Lawmakers in their separate submissions, lamented the explosion while noting that the Ojoo Gem Stone market remains the largest in Africa with many expatriates living within the area.
The House called on government and security agencies to expand the investigation net to ensure that no stone was left unturned in the bid to holistically address the aftermath of the explosion.
The lawmakers commended Governor Seyi Makinde for his prompt response, payment of hospital bills of those who died at the incident and provision of alternative accommodation for the displaced residents, the House, equally. They also expressed appreciation to the Security Agencies (Nigeria Army, Nigeria Police, Civil Defence, Amotekun among others) for rising up to the occasion.
The House particularly commended the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA and the Oyo State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA for their prompt deployment of manpower to the scene of the explosion, while appealing to the Federal Government and its emergency response agencies to come to the aid of victims of the blast.
Further, the House called on Security Agencies to cordon off the scene of the incident and thoroughly search the area for possible leftovers of the explosives.
While urging security agencies to embark on intelligence gathering to identify residences of other possible illegal miners and expatriates, the House further appealed to all regulatory agencies to enforce safety precautions, especially in handling and storing of explosives (dynamites), among others.
On his part, the Speaker, Adebo Ogundoyin said: “We can discuss different angles to how the situation affects us and different solutions as to ensuring that this situation never occurs again but for now let us wait for the outcome of security investigation shed more light on the happenings.”
“As soon as we have more information I’m sure we’ll be able to deliberate further as to the next action move.”
“We also want the Ministry of Environment to look at the state Environmental Laws to see whether or not there are consequences for such actions that have happened and if there are not then there are lacuna in the laws and we have to take immediate steps towards that.”
Ogundoyin directed House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources to investigate the provisions of the law to determine the next legislative action and ordered the committee to report its findings back to the House within one week.