Osagie Otabor, Akure
Residents of Eleyewo in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State are lamenting their loss after Saturday’s bomb explosion.
A truck conveying dynamites exploded on the highway, destroying houses, a church and school. It also divided the road into two.
Scavengers yesterday stormed the area but were chased away by security agents and youths.
The people expressed anger that some individuals are insisting the incident was not a bomb explosion since no carcass of the truck was found at the scene.
A widow, Temilade Ganiyu, brought a bucket of iron scraps that destroyed her house. She said they were inside when the bomb went off and the buildings collapsed. Nobody died however.
A civil servant, Olaniyi Olukayode, said it was a tyre rim from the truck that fell on his house and destroyed it.
“Those saying it was not a bomb are fools. People have testified that a bomb exploded. What I gathered from my house has been collected by the police. I spent N4 million on the house and now it is down.”
A statement by the Head of Media and Corporate Communications of National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Dr Felix Ale, said the explosion could be a natural phenomenon of a suspected fall of a meteoric from an asteroid belt on great speed from space.
The NASRDA spokesman said the agency was studying the situation and has deployed its experts to the site for investigation.
He said: “Some of these natural occurrences may sometimes escape observation and happen naturally, as it is likely the case in this incident. The agency would come out with official statements on its comprehensive preliminary report on the incident as soon as investigations are concluded.”
But Prince Olaseyinde Gagbi, who was at the explosion site, said what he saw was different from a bomb explosion.
“We have been hearing in the last two weeks that a meteorite was coming to earth. The way it happened is what I have been seeing on the internet. I have visited other bomb blast sites, there is fire, but there is no fire here. If it is a bomb, there will be eye witness and carcass of the truck,” he said.
An eyewitness, Richard Solomon, whose conductor is in the hospital, said policemen stopped them from going near the truck before it exploded.
“I saw everything. I was going to Ogun State and it was late. Policemen asked us to stop, I stopped but some vehicles disobeyed. I saw a fire in the truck and few minutes later there was an explosion. I bent down but the thing shocked us. It shattered the windscreen of our truck. Other cars that parked near us were affected. The people inside were injured. There were small irons on the road. After about 30 minutes, we went there and saw the road split into two. We waited till daybreak to see everything.
“We came to the hospital ourselves; I did not see the driver of the truck that exploded. My boy was injured in the leg.”
His boy, Yakson Abdulahi, who was still at the hospital said they saw how the truck exploded.
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“We waited and saw the thing explode. It was one of the iron that flew through our glass and hit my leg,” he said.
The police has dismissed claims by scientists that the explosion was as a result of meteorite landing. It said its men escorted the truck from Ibadan before it exploded in Ondo following a fire from the truck.
Spokesman Tee-Leo Ikoro said: “The police from here are in Ibadan, but they must be on their way back because some people are saying there was no explosive but something from the sky. But we know that policemen from the explosive unit escorted that thing. If there is nothing, what would they have escorted? If they were not carrying anything, why would they stay there?
“We all knew there was an explosion, there was a vehicle involved, the vehicle was shattered beyond recognition. We are still awaiting the result of the investigation because the police commissioner said he would publicise outcome of the investigation. Since the accident happened in Ondo State, it is our duty to ensure proper investigation is done.”
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