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Explosion at Obasanjo Library Not Bomb, Say Police

Published

5 years ago

May 21, 2021

Eric

One person has been confirmed dead in an explosion at the Olúségun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The explosion occurred around 11am on Thursday at the Marcque Event Centre within the library.

It was gathered that routine cleaning was being done when one of the gas cylinders at the event centre exploded.

A witness told our correspondent that some of the casualties were taken by a rescue team that arrived at the scene shortly after the incident.

The OOPL Managing Director, Vitalis Ortese, in a statement, said the explosion affected the main event marquee of the complex.

According to him, the explosion occurred when two technical vendors were conducting routine servicing of the air conditioning units.

He said, “The explosion, which occurred around 11.04 am, unfortunately, led to the death of a technical vendor and serious injury of the second vendor.

The tragedy brings to four the number of explosions recorded in the last one week in the state.

On Tuesday, the Conference Hotel in Abeokuta owned by a former Governor, Gbenga Daniel, was hit by an explosion which killed two and injured three others.

Last Wednesday, three persons, including an infant, were burnt to death in a gas explosion that occurred in Oke-Egunyan, along the NTA Road in Abeokuta, when a technician was topping up the gas of a faulty refrigerator.

Barely 24 hours after that incident, another gas explosion occurred on Mercy Road, Panseke, Abeokuta, where a technician, Sanya Shonde, was injured, which later led to the amputation of his leg.

Raising concern over the explosions in Abeokuta, a former governorship candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in the state, Adekunle Akinlade, and a group, Neo Black Movement of Africa, raised the alarm over alleged circulation of fake gas cylinders in the state.

Akinlade, in a statement by his media aide, Azeez Adelani, called on the state government to immediately “set up a high-powered team to investigate the source of the adulterated gas to prevent further accidents.”

Ajogun said, “The state government is worried and that is why the governor has directed that we should launch an investigation into the incidences of frequent gas explosions that we have witnessed between May 12 and today.

“But again, it is unfortunate that rumour mongers will be telling you maybe it was a bomb explosion, but there is nothing like bomb. It was just a gas explosion and we want to find out whether it was as a result of human errors or there are things technically wrong in the cylinders that they are using because we are made to understand that some cylinders do expire.”

The Punch

Featured

Tinubu Nominates Oyedele As Minister of State for Finance, Moves Anite-Uzoka to Budget Ministry

Published

22 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

A statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga, has announced that “President Bola Tinubu has nominated Taiwo Oyedele as the minister of state for finance, replacing Doris Anite-Uzoka.

“Mrs Anite-Uzoka will now move to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, as the Minister of State, her third portfolio in the administration.

“President Tinubu has today conveyed the nomination of Mr Oyedele to the Senate for confirmation in a letter to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

“Until President Tinubu nominated him as a minister, Mr Oyedele from Ikaram, Akoko, Ondo State, was the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, which overhauled Nigeria’s tax system.

“Mr Oyedele, 50, is an economist, accountant and public policy expert.

“He attended Yaba College of Technology, where he obtained a Higher National Diploma (HND) in accountancy and finance. He attended Oxford Brookes University and earned a BSc in applied accounting.

“He also completed executive education programmes at the London School of Economics, Yale University, the Gordon Institute of Business Science, and the Harvard Kennedy School.

“Mr Oyedele spent 22 years of his working career at PwC, joining in 2001 and rising to become the Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader.

“Mr Oyedele is also a professor at Babcock University in Ogun State and a visiting scholar at the Lagos Business School.”

Featured

Defection: Atiku’s Son, Adamu, Resigns As Adamawa Commissioner

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Adamu Abubakar, the first son of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has resigned as Adamawa State’s commissioner for works and energy development, days after Governor Ahmadu Fintiri defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

Abubakar’s resignation letter, dated 2 March 2026, was addressed to the governor through the Secretary to the State Government. He gave no reason for his departure.

The timing is pointed. Fintiri announced his defection to the APC in a statewide broadcast last Friday, saying his cabinet and the PDP’s state structure had moved with him. Within 24 hours, 22 commissioners and special advisers publicly announced they were following suit. Abubakar, whose father remains one of the PDP’s most prominent national figures, was not among them.

In a statement issued Monday night, Abubakar’s media aide Abdulaziz Jauro said the former commissioner thanked the governor for the opportunity to serve and pledged continued loyalty to the administration’s developmental agenda. He also expressed gratitude to his father “for granting him the moral support and blessing to serve the people of Adamawa State” — a line that, read in context, suggests Atiku was consulted on the decision.

Abubakar said his resignation was not a withdrawal from public life. “This does not mark the end of his commitment to public service,” the statement read, “but rather the beginning of new avenues for developmental collaboration.”

The resignation leaves unresolved the question of whether it reflects a political break with the governor over his defection or a personal decision unconnected to the broader party realignment now reshaping Adamawa’s political landscape.

Featured

DSS Nabs Man over Assassination Attempt on Peter Obi

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) has detained a man in connection with the recent attack and alleged assassination threats targeting Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

According to AIT, the shooting incident took place on February 24, 2026, in Benin City, Edo State, during a political gathering attended by Obi and several figures from the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The meeting was hosted by former APC National Chairman, John Oyegun. Gunmen reportedly opened fire at the venue, causing panic and forcing attendees to disperse for safety.

According to security sources, shortly after the attack, an individual identified as Udeme Monday Stephen allegedly took to social media claiming responsibility and issuing additional threats against Obi, warning of further violence.

Intelligence officials reportedly initiated swift investigations, employing digital tracing and forensic tools that led to the arrest of the 26-year-old suspect in Rivers State. He is said to be a teacher at a private secondary school in the Eliozu area of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area.

The suspect remains in DSS custody and is expected to face prosecution. The agency reiterated its commitment to responding to credible threats and safeguarding lives and national interests without bias.