One year after Ibadan explosion, victims cry for justice

BY PELUMI BOLAWA AND JEMILAT NASIRU

On the eve of January 16, 2024, the tranquil Bodija neighbourhood was shattered by a deafening explosion that sent tremors through Ibadan, the Oyo state capital. The blast, originating from stored explosives at a building located on Aderinola Street, claimed five lives and left a trail of devastation in its wake.

Seventy-seven people were said to have been injured in the incident, while over 50 houses, properties, and cars were destroyed. 

Five days after the incident, Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, said over 90 per cent of the explosion victims were discharged from hospitals.

Makinde said investigations showed that the incident was caused by explosive devices stored in a residential apartment by illegal miners. 

According to reports from residents and eyewitnesses, many of the victims were either first responders to a fire outbreak caused by an electric surge that first hit the building with the explosives or passersby who were too close to the site. 

One year later, TheCable visited the vicinity to check how victims have been faring and what developments have been recorded since then. While the physical scars slowly heal, the emotional wounds continue to linger for many residents.

Among those deeply affected was Modupe Onadeko, an 80-year-old retired medical professor who lives on the property directly opposite the street — three houses from the blast site. 

Onadeko, a breast cancer survivor, was in the house with her husband Babatunde Onadeko – an 88-year-old emeritus professor — maid, and a security guard when the blast ripped through the vicinity. 

She described their escape as “the greatest miracle of our lives”. 

The blast left their home, wholly built in January 1980, precisely 44 years after she moved in with her husband, in partial collapse. 

“I was in an online prayer meeting with some of my cousins, who usually meet online fortnightly. That is every two weeks on Tuesday, and that day, January 16, happens to be a Tuesday. I raised a prayer that God will do a new thing in Nigeria,” Onadeko recollected.

“As we all said, Amen, I just heard a bang on my head. The roof came all collapsing. The door had come down. The transformer in front of our house had caught fire. Fortunately, my husband had put up the inverter light, and I could see broken louvres chattering around the house.”

Hours after the blast, the Oyo state government evacuated the affected residents to nearby hotels, where they were lodged for a month. 

“We then moved to my husband’s cousin’s house. We were there for five months,” she said. 

Funke Raymond, another resident, said many of the victims who lost their properties now live elsewhere. 

SURVIVORS LIVING WITH PTSD

Many of those who survived the tragic incident are left with post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Onadeko said she still finds it difficult to open her bedroom curtains as seeing the blast site, dubbed ground zero, traumatises her.

“Our master bedroom faces this junction. Till today, I cannot open this curtain because I would be seeing ground zero, and the psychological effect is still there. That emotional stress is really devastating,” she said.

The octogenarian added that she almost lost the opportunity to deliver her first public lecture decades after becoming a professor of medicine with a focus on women’s and children’s health, as the blast destroyed her thesis materials.

The older brother of Toluwase, who died due to the explosion, told TheCable that their grief is worsened by the fact that his aged parents survived the deceased.

“Grief and bereavement come with their challenges. We’ve all had our trigger moments, and we’re still having them, bearing in mind that my brother still has his parents alive, who are in their 80s, and he would have been 40 this year. He was 38 when he died, and he left a wife and children,” he said.

RESIDENTS HOLD MEMORIAL SERVICE

On Thursday, the residents organised a memorial service to mark the first anniversary and honour the deceased victims identified as Fimihan Fagbemi, Agnes Badmus, Boluwatife Adegoke, Ezekiel Toluwase, and Ladipo Oyebamiji.

Addressing the congregation that had gathered at the Baptist Church in Bodija, Muyiwa Bamgbose of the Bodija Estate Residents Association appreciated the first responders, hospitals, hotels, private organisations, the Oyo state government, and members of the public for their support since the incident.

However, he said that despite the support, many residents remain displaced, face hardship, and cannot return to their homes.

He called on the authorities to “expedite the investigation and ensure that those responsible are held accountable” to prevent a repeat of the incident. He asked that the government provide the necessary support to help the residents rebuild their lives.

Let the tragedy serve as a reminder of the importance of unity, vigilance, and collective responsibility.

THE STRUGGLE TO REBUILD

Onadeko told TheCable that her house was in the final rehabilitation stage when the reporters arrived. 

The Onadeko couple, with support from their children and other family members and friends, have been able to put their house back in shape. 

In keeping their four-decade-old structure back to its status, Onadeko said her family spent over N25 million. 

Asked if the government provided any financial assistance to them, Onadeko responded in the negative.

She said some building materials — building sheets, iron rods, and bags of cement — were sent by the government.

She added that the cement was already caked up when it got to the residents’s possession “and it didn’t fit the specification of most houses, so the Bodija resident association decided to sell the materials”. She said her share of the recovered money was N132,000.

A horticulturist at the exit gate of the street said he lost over N500,000 worth of flowers and vases.

He said the blast broke his vases while the crowd that gathered after the incident trampled on his plants.

“If I was here when it happened and I died, what would I do? I thank God for my life; I started all over again. The government said it would compensate us, but I haven’t heard anything,” he said.

SECURITY DEPLOYED 

Since the unfortunate incident, the state government has beefed up security in the estate. Officers of the Nigerian Army and the Western Nigeria Security Network (Amotekun) have mounted posts at strategic places within the vicinity to prevent the looting of properties. 

However, some security personnel told TheCable that their remuneration is poor and that they are owed salaries. Their living conditions are also not impressive. Some officers had to build their sheds from items recovered from the blast scene, while others lived inside some of the crumpled buildings.

RESIDENTS HAVE NO HOPE FOR JUSTICE

Residents say the aftermath of the incident has been marked by frustration and a sense of injustice. Despite the government’s efforts to provide relief, including building materials and a small compensation, many residents feel the support has been inadequate.

“Nobody has been prosecuted or jailed for this dastardly act,” Onadeko said, expressing deep disappointment at the seeming lack of accountability. 

She demanded that the assets of the suspects be confiscated and used to settle the victims of the blast.

Toluwase’s brother said he is not certain the victims will get justice, adding that justice remains a facade for them.

“I dream and I wait for a day that justice will actually take effect in Nigeria because we are living in a society that has little or no respect for human lives. Justice? I am not sure; the people have not been brought to book. I know they were arrested, and they also went to court, but that was the last time we heard anything public about them,” he said.

WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS SAYING

In December 2024, Makinde inaugurated a 10-member committee to oversee the disbursement of the relief funds to the victims. Bayo Lawal, the deputy governor, is the chairman of the committee.

Other members include Iyiola Oladokun, a former deputy governor; Bamgbose, chairman of Bodija Estate Residents Association; Ojuolape Busari, secretary of Oyo State Emergency Management Agency; and Gafar Bello, the governor’s executive assistant on finance, budget, and planning, among others. 

Makinde said the government would only provide support, not compensate those who lost their properties.

Speaking during a media chat in December, Makinde said the suspects were already being prosecuted.

“The law is taking its course as people have been charged to court and are being prosecuted. Regarding those who lost properties, they will be supported by the government. We already awarded the contract to fix the roads in that area,” he said.

At the memorial service, Idowu Ogedembe, senior executive assistant to Makinde, who represented the state government, expressed the governor’s commitment to the security of lives and properties.

He reminded the residents that if they see something, they should say something.

“We can see that his excellency is not shielding anyone. Some were suggesting that there is a government cover; there isn’t any cover. He will not spare any offender,” he said.

When TheCable asked why the prosecution, names and faces of the suspects were not made public, Ogedembe said, “You don’t come out to speak when the whole exercise is ongoing. I am sure at the right time…I am sure our governor, as I said, is not going to shield anyone if they have been found culpable”.