Oyo govt. confirms Ibadan explosion, calls for calm

The Oyo State Government Tuesday evening confirmed what it described as “an uncommon explosion” which rocked some parts of Ibadan around 8 p.m.

The state’s Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Prince Dotun Oyelade, gave the confirmation in a statement.

He however acknowledged that there were various interpretations of the incident.

“But it is important for us to state categorically that the state government has taken over and in the full control of the unfortunate occurrence in order to mitigate the incident,” the Commissioner said.

Oyelade disclosed that security service chiefs, including those of the para-military, as well as Fire Service operatives, have been deployed by the state governor, Mr Seyi Makinde.

”This is to rein in the spill-over from the explosion,” he added.

The Commissioner said Gov. Makinde has implored citizens to calm down and be rest assured that their interests are being looked after.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the explosion was said to have occurred at a private building at Dejo Oyelese street, Adeyi area of Bodija in Ibadan.

Unconfirmed reports say the explosion affected about four buildings in the area, with windows shattered and walls brought down and a number of injuries recorded.

The impact of the explosion was also said to have affected dozens of buildings in nearby areas such as Sango, Mokola, University College Hospital (UCH), Agodi and Ojoo.

Other areas in Ibadan such as Eleiyele and Ologuneru also felt the impact of the explosion.

Already, bomb detectors of the Nigeria Police Force, as well as men of the Nigerian Army, Fire Service and other security bodies are presently at the Adeyi area.

Meanwhile, the city is awash with reports that some persons injured as a result of the explosion have been rushed to some hospitals.