Six Months after Ibadan Explosion; Victims Are Still Complaining of Neglect ( Photos)

The victims of the horrific Ibadan Bodija explosion of 16 January 2024 are still crying for help from any quarter as they condemned the Federal Government of Nigeria and Òyo State Government   lackadaisical attitudes to their plight.

Newspot crew were at the epic center  site of the disaster at Dejo Oyelese, Adeyi Avenue and environs especially Rev’d Aderinola Street and came back with pictures that showed that nothing much had changed since the day of the calamity.

The   blast shook the Bodija and the geographical environs to their foundations and left many dead, some buildings swallowed and millions of properties destroyed.

Members of the landlords associations of whom are retired professors and aged civil servants who wished to speak anonymously lamented that they were spending their remaining few years in pains and anguish.

” There is no how we can raise any money or loan to rebuild our damaged buildings. Even our retirement benefits that are delayed in coming and they  are not enough to put food on the table with the present situation in the country “.

Those that were located in hotels have similar unpleasant tales to share. One Mrs Aderinola decided to speak. ” Yes, we were lodged in hotels but we only enjoyed  the comfort of lodging for only two weeks after which we have been subjected to inhuman  treatments.  In most cases we live without electricity and three square meals have been reduced to one. Some of the owners of the hotels are complaining of government owing them.

” Even life in an hotels for long is not comfortable.  We can’t compare it to when you are staying under your roof where you can decide on what to eat. :

” What most of us need now is for government to speed up the rehabilitation of the damaged buildings . We only hear that government is providing cement bags and roofing sheets but we are not seeing them. The most critical are those whose buildings were destroyed to zero level.  They have been left without hope of re erecting buildings on their lands.”

Another victim of the blast has this to say : “Government propaganda machineries have been sending out deceitful information to make the general public feel the government is assisting the survivors . What a country! Those the Oyo State government claimed they put in a temporary accommodation ( not every survivor anyway) have tales of woes to tell the unsuspecting public about how they have been dehumanized thus far! There is the need for both the Federal government and particularly Oyo State Government to sincerely assist those involved in the explosion incident to start moving on with their lives inspite of several promises made by Oyo State Govt and not fulfilled almost six months since the explosion occured”

However, a statement by the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Dotun Oyelade, in March, debunked the insinuation that the government had abandoned the welfare of victims of the Bodija explosion.

He said, “The government has debunked the insinuation that it has abandoned the welfare of victims of the Bodija explosion in Ibadan. The rumour is unfair and unnecessary. Ever since the January 16 explosion, the government has been spending between N15m and N20m weekly on accommodation and feeding for the victims in the past weeks

“As we speak, the government has spent over N160m on accommodation and feeding alone for the victims who were immediately accommodated at the hotels and 38 of them still residing in the various hotels. In the same vein, the government has picked up a medical bill of over N17m while those still in hospitals are being actively catered for.”

Oyelade also said that N2m is spent weekly, amounting to N16m in eight weeks, for security operatives to protect the property left behind by the victims.

On the rumour that some of the victims were ejected from their hotels, the commissioner said nothing could be farther from the truth.

“One of the hotels at Idi-Ape informed their occupants that they would like to fumigate their premises and the government took it upon itself to immediately arrange transportation for the explosion victims to be accommodated in another hotel at Jericho together with members of their families.

The government does not think making an issue of fumigating a facility is the correct thing to do because such exercise is routine and the prerogative of the hotel owners.

“On the accusation that victims’ meals have been reduced to one, the government sees this as equally spurious because many hotels provide complimentary breakfast, and most of our wards go out in the daytime, hence, the government’s decision to provide dinner.