.Government managing aftermath of explosion very well —- Prof. Alonge
.As Nigeria Red Cross Officials pick up dismembered body parts from blast site
Exactly two weeks ago, the city of Ibadan the Oyo state capital was thrown into shock and grief following the explosion incident at the Deji Oyelese street Old Bodija area of the city .
According to investigations, six fatalities were recorded following the explosion which occurred about 7.45pm on January 9th attributed to the careless storage of mining materials in one of the apartments on the street.
Official records put the victims from the blast at 77 but this number can be more considering the complexity of the devastating blast which destroyed more than ten houses and caused damages to properties in and around the scene of the blast .
When our Correspondent visited the scene of the last at the weekend, several agencies including the Nigeria Red Cross, the police, the army, fire service , officials from the ministry of health, women and poverty alleviation among Para military agencies civil defence corp were on ground playing various parts in ensuring that the evacuation and recovery phase of the incident run smoothly and successfully.
It was also gathered that the officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) South West zone led by Mr. Saheed Akiode were present on the day of the blast and their officials are also assisting to ease the aftermath of the deadly blast .
Speaking with our Correspondent in a phone interview Mr. Akiode said ‘’ We were on the ground on the day of the explosion and we rescued some of the victims . We have been visiting the scene and our officials are still on ground. Information about the incident and other necessary data on the incident can be obtained from the Information centre set up by the government at the Oyo state Housing Corporation’’
Our Correspondent while monitoring the activities at the scene of the blast observed some residents evacuating their belongings from one of the affected buildings while the officials of the Nigeria Red Cross were seen picking up mutilated body parts from the debris which they deposited into bags while the heavy duty tractors were pulling and gathering debris into tippers that were pulled out of the scene to an undisclosed location.
Prof. Temitope Alonge , the Incident Manager at the Ibadan explosion site spoke to our correspondent about the activities embarked upon by the government in managing the aftermath of the explosion. He said ‘’The emergency rescue team involves a lot of agencies which comprises of the Nigerian army, police, civil defence corp , the Nigeria Red Cross and other security. para-mlilitary agencies who have been on ground to help us secure the location for us to conduct search and rescue . On Wednesday, we began to engage in aggressive search and rescue with the Oyo state emergency management agency and we were able to recover a man on Wednesday ., we also recovered body parts which we sent to the pathologist and the forensic pathologist was on ground . Those who were injured were managed in various hospitals, private and public . The number of fatalities recorded were about six. We had more than 77 persons in various hospitals but the numbers cannot be accurate . But the ones recorded is 77 , and most of them have been discharged from the hospital as we speak’’.
Speaking further, Prof. Alonge said ‘’ This is the recovery phase and we have cleared most of the debris. On Wednesday the bomb disposal unit was on the ground to find out the spot where the explosion took place and they have submitted their reports to a committee and government is working on that. We have been following up on the patients , The government t has done a wonderful job and there is an emergency centre where the documentations and other information on the rescue operations can be obtained .We also have the services of the clinical psychologist and that will continue for a long time’’.
About what can be done to forestall such occurrence in the future , Prof Alonge said ‘’The government not only in Oyo state has been saying when you see something, say something. I believe the people of Oyo state are law abiding and the government is willing to work with any directive. I believe the landlord associations have taken a cue from this. Even if the owner of the house is not living in the apartment, we believe that there is a regular meeting of the landlord association, and these landlords are able to track their tenants through their agents. ‘’
‘’We have gone through the search and rescue phase and we are at the recovery phase which is multifaceted. Physical structure is different. Technically, there are internally displaced people. The recovery phase is extensive .We have began to enumerate the buildings in terms of integrity test when the team of engineers were briefed. On Thursday, we have six to eight teams of structural engineers from the Nigeria Society of Engineers Oyo state chapter going round and they have marked it 15 metres from the epicenter , the integrity test is being done with the consent of the landlords and when we can’t find the landlords we put a mark on it and we wait for the landlords , we do not force our way to demolish anybody’s property’’..
Speaking on the efforts of the government to provide succour for the victims of the explosion, Dr. Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi the Commissioner for Health Oyo state said
‘’We thank God for what He has done. If not for the mercies of God, the damage would have been more than this . When I heard the blast, I mobilized our rescue team. We started calling and started activating the response team in UCH (University Teaching Hospital). When we got to the street where the explosion happened, there were a lot of people in front of the entrance to the gate but with the help of the security operatives, we were able to get into the street where the blast occurred. Before we arrived the scene of the blast, some of the residents who had escaped had returned and they were helping the trapped ones. We started picking people to the hospitals, the children in a nearby school , ALL Souls School were taken to J Rapha hospital. The injured ones were taken care of in the hospital both private and public hospital. Some people are just coming to report, one woman had surgery two days ago and most of the victims have been discharged. There were some dismembered parts recovered from the scene and we handed that over to the pathologists. So far we have not seen any family coming back to report that they are looking for anyone. We are providing counseling for those who have been affected. We know that there will be a need for clinical psychologists and psychiatrist so all these experts are available to speak and counsel the victims. The sniper dogs have not been able to sniff out any body. Some of them victims do not have place to stay and the governor is magnanimous enough to say that the hotels should accommodate them ‘’
Speaking on the red flags that would have prevented the ugly incident, Dr. Ajetunmobi said ‘’ From what we gathered , there were red flags , that this people , they bring in trucks with materials , and these people spread their clothes on the fence which is not something you see in Bodija , some residents said they heard a humming sound before the blast . If not that there was a fire before the blast which some the residents noticed and quickly ran away from their homes and the fact that it was about 7.45pm when people are not yet asleep, let say it happened about 9pm -10pm when people would have been sleeping and the incident would have been deadlier . What we can say is that there is need to know you neighbour, it is not about belonging to neighbourhood association alone. They can be proactive and report to nearby security agencies about any suspicious activities .
