There was pandemonium in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, Saturday as an an explosion rocked the Old Government Secretariat area of the city, with the people fleeing for their lives.
The effect of the explosion, according to information, which occurred around 7.05am, was felt as buildings located about two kilometres away shook to their foundations.
The Old Government Secretariat located at Oke Ori Omi area of the Ado Ekiti metropolis, is where the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs is located.
The explosion, which sound effects reverberated as far as Okesa, Okeyinmi, Irona and Ilawe road, occurred at the Ordinance Explosive Disposal Department (EoD) of the Ekiti Police Command situated within the premises of the secretariat popularly called old governor’s office.
The bungalow of the EoD office was turned into rubbles, while the adjoining offices that housed the office of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Correspondents’ Chapel, Ekiti chapter was badly affected.
All the offices around the area were affected, with their louvre blades and glasses shattered to pieces, while the asbestos and Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) ceiling, doors and windscreen of vehicles parked around the offices were forcefully removed and scattered.
As of 10.00am, the Police Commissioner, Mr Asuquo Amba, and officers of the anti-bomb squad were still removing some of the explosive materials in the area.
Governor Kayode Fayemi and the Deputy Governor, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi, also visited the site of the explosion.
Fayemi, however, said the EoD office shouldn’t have been located in the area, adding: “It ought to be in a far distance.”
The police commissioner, while addressing newsmen at the site of the bomb blast, said he suspected that the explosion was caused by the counter terrorism accessories kept in the office.
He said: “Let my men from anti-bomb department check around. Officers of the anti-bomb are combing the place as you can see.
“This is the office where they keep detonation accessories. The explosion must have been caused by equipment kept in their stock house.
“The area has been cordoned off. We are going to devise means of ensuring improvement in the stocking of these equipment next time.
“We are happy that there is no loss of life, no casualty. Some of these devises are used to detect bomb and to detonate it. Some of them used to detonate on their own and that must have caused the explosion.”
A statement signed by the Commissioner for Information, Muyiwa Olumilua, shortly after the incident, said: “An explosion was reported earlier this morning at the Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD) office in Ado Ekiti.
“An initial on-the-spot assessment confirms that there are no casualties and the area is secured with no further threats.
“Members of the public are advised to go about their normal duties.” Thisday
