Enough Of Explosions

In early February, this year, an explosion rocked Ekiti State with preliminary investigation blaming it on
human error. No sooner had the dust raised by the incident settled, than another massive explosion tore through the peace and serenity of Abule Ado Community in Lagos State, in the morning of Sunday, March 15, 2020.
To say that the Ekiti blast was a child’s play, compared to the Abule Ado incident, was an under-statement. This was because the explosion in Lagos State claimed the lives of over 23 persons, including a family of four; and destroyed over 50 cars and buildings; while scores of other persons sustained injuries of varying degrees. The victims of the explosion up till this day, are still counting their losses.
The worst hit was a Catholic School in Abule Ado, Bethlehem Girls College, which lost its headmistress, Rev. Sister Henrietta Alohka; a Chaplain; an administrator; and also one of the kitchen hands to the explosion. This is besides 16 students of the school who were alleged to be among those that died.
Again, Nigerians were yet to recover from the shock caused by the Abule Ado blast when yet another explosion rocked two communities in Akure, the capital of Ondo State in less than two weeks, specifically on Saturday, March 28, 2020.
According to reports, the Akure blast had destroyed a church, a school, some houses and cut into two the busy Akure-Owo highway. Several persons were also said to have been injured.
Indeed, the frequency of these explosions, particularly in Yorubaland in recent times has raised fundamental questions begging for answers, even as keen observers of developments in the country have kept on pondering over what must have been the possible causes of these explosions which have occurred in the South-West States of the country in less than two months.
This is more accentuated by the sheer fact that the actual causes of these unfortunate incidents are still shrouded in mysteries, up till this day. At best, the causes of the explosions are still situated within the realms of conjectures and speculations.
Take the Abule Ado incident as an example. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) reportedly said that the explosion occurred after a truck hit some gas cylinders stacked in a gas processing plant located near its System 2B Pipeline Right of Way (RoW).
Some persons believe that the explosion was caused by gas leakages that formed gas clouds in the sky and upon contact with naked fire, spiraled into flames, and that before emergency responders could get to the scene, the explosion had already ruptured the NNPC pipeline that runs through the suburb, thus, aggravating the damage.
According to them, it was the contact of fire with the petroleum products in the ruptured pipeline that exacerbated the explosion and spread to residential buildings, schools and churches in the area.
Yet, some residents of the area said their initial fear was that an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) had been set off given the shocking way the explosion shook their houses, broke windows and even blew off roofs.
On its part, the Lagos State Government, said it could not make any policy statement over the incident until “we know what happened. Security agencies are investigating what happened”.
Unfortunately, the outcome of such investigations was still being awaited when the Ondo State explosion occurred. Also, the Akure blast did not offer much clues as to the actual cause of the explosion except that it was caused by those transporting explosives through the area.
Thus, it was against this backdrop that the Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, recently issued a statement, demanding for a probe of the incident.
In the statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the body, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, Afenifere said an inquiry must be launched into the matter to unravel the cause of the explosion as well as those involved in the movement of explosives through the state.
According to the organisation, inquiries into several explosions recorded within South-West States were yet to see the light of the day, hence, the need to investigate the Ondo explosion.
“While we have nothing to contradict the stated accounts yet, we demand an inquiry into this disaster in accordance with the Ordinance and Firearm Acts, to determine the type of ordinances that exploded,” the group said.
The body said the inquiry should ascertain the identities of those transporting the ordinances; the origin of the ordinances; those who assigned the escorting policemen; under what circumstances; and where was the destination of the Improvised Explosive Decries (IEDs).
The Tide joins Afenifere and other well-meaning Nigerians and organisations to condemn in strong terms the spate of explosions in South-West States of the country in recent times. This recurring trend of devastation of human lives and property in these perilous times, we think, is an ill-wind that does no one any good.
While we commend the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, his team for visiting the scene of the explosion and other Governors of the affected states for their prompt response, we align ourselves with those calling for investigation of the incidents.
It is quite unfortunate that up till date, no form of probe has been instituted by the Federal Government to unravel the immediate and remote causes of these explosions. That the explosions occurred between February and March is quite disturbing. Infact, the frequency of this ugly development alone, is enough to spur government to action.
We also think that the way and manner the explosions have occurred in a particular section of the country may not be ordinary. It raises a lot of eye brow. This is why the government should without further waste of time be able to act fast and establish the causes of these explosions. This is the only way of nipping in the bud these ugly occurrences in other parts of the country.
We are not also unmindful of the fact that a lot of people in the country today are crying for help, particularly victims of the blasts. Again, government cannot pretend to be insensitive to the plight of this category of persons. It can do a lot to assuage their feelings of pain. The truth remains that Nigerians today need explanation for this spate of explosions in the land. They want an end to these explosions. The Federal Government must act now.