Office buildings and structures were amongst properties destroyed by the explosion that happened at Bodija area of Ibadan on Tuesday evening.
The explossion did not spare structures within the State Secretariat Complex, Agodi, according to reports.
A NAN correspondent, who visited some of the ministries and parastatals within the secretariat on Wednesday, reports that the impacts of the explosive were severe on some buildings.
Some of the affected offices included: Water Corporation building, which houses two ministries; the Revenue Building and the newly-built Local Government Service Commission building.
Others were: Local Government Staff Training School, some parts of the Governor’s Office, the State Secretariat Central Mosque and the Secretariat Chapel. NAN observed shattered window glasses and doors, collapsed ceilings and some pieces of office equipment, such as computer systems littering the offices.
Some staffers of the affected offices were also seen in front of their offices discussing the incident, which they described as devastating. A civil servant, who simply identified himself as Jide, said the incident was unfortunate, but gave glory to God that it happened after close of work.
He said that it would have been worse if it had happened during work hours, saying many members of staff would have been trapped. Meanwhile, Oyo State Government has set up an Emergency Situation Room for the Bodija explosion, led by Prof Temitope Alonge, a former Chief Medical Director (CMD) of University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.
NAN reports that the situation room is charged with the responsibility of coordinating the ongoing response to the incident. NAN also reports that as of the time of filing this report, rescue operations were ongoing at the scene, with officials of the State Emergency Management Agency (OSEMA) on ground.
In addition, officials of the Red Cross and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were observed rendering humanitarian services.
NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA
