The authorities owe the public lots of information about what happened in Akure.
While still reeling from the tragic Abule Ado explosion in Lagos which claimed more than a dozen lives, another explosion on the Akure-Owo Expressway led to large scale destruction of buildings, shops, schools, churches, petrol station and more. The force of the explosion created a huge crater on the road making it impassable. Mercifully, students of the Aina Awawu International College, a boarding school close by, were home on account of the raging coronavirus disease. But no fewer than 20 people sustained various degrees of injuries.
According to reports confirmed by security agencies and the Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, a vehicle transporting explosive devices to a storage facility in a neighbouring state developed a fault while in transit along the Akure Owo Road. Security personnel and other individuals transporting the ordinances noticed smoke from the vehicle. After several attempts to extinguish the resulting fire failed, the vehicle and its consignment ignited, causing a massive explosion that was felt in Akure and its environs. That was the version recounted by Governor Akeredolu.
However, another account from some experts led by a professor of Geophysics and Earthquake Engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Adepelumi Adekunle, contradicts that. The conclusion of their report is that the explosion was caused by a giant rock from space known as meteors. A meteor is what happens when a meteoroid – a small piece of an asteroid – burns up upon entering earth’s atmosphere, creating a streak of light in the sky. The experts found no evidence of fire or burnt objects anywhere. “No evidence of radioactivity radiation was found within the crater and immediate vicinity,” said Professor Adekunle. “The field evidence points to a conclusion that a meteoric from an asteroid belt that travels at a great speed from space impacted the location at an angle of 43 degrees….”
