By Adeyinka Adeniran
The Federal Government has promised to make the report of findings on the Ibadan explosion public as soon as technical and intelligence investigations are completed by the various agencies.
This is as the Federal Government also vows to ensure that justice is served not only to the victims but also the perpetrators, culprits with an assurance of whatever assistance that the report of findings recommends that should be given will be given to the Oyo state government.
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake gave the assurance on Monday shortly after paying a courtesy call on Oyo state governor Seyi Makinde.
Alake who paid the visit after visiting the site of the explosion and a visit to the victims and survivals still receiving treatment at the University College Hospital, was received at the Governor’s Office by the Governor who led him into a private meeting which held behind closed doors.
The Governor also used the opportunity to conduct the Minister round some parts of the office that was also affected by the explosion.
He said “Because it is a technical thing, and it requires a lot of technological gadgets and apparatus, we can’t put a time frame on it, but I can assure you in terms of the speed with which they have started and are going about it, it will be shorter than you think
“But of course we are not going to seat on it, this is not a kind of report that anybody will seat on and this is not a kind of government that will seat on any panels report or any investigative analysis, it will be public documents and will be kept abreast of it”
Fielding questions from reporters, Alake said he was in the state as a culmination of the establishment of acknowledgement of the federal government on what the Oyo State governor and government has done, which he described as very remarkable.
He noted that the President was very impressed as well as all other persons as to the speed and level of response of the state government to the incident.
He said no categorical statement will be made on the incident until all reports of investigations are submitted.
“After going through the site and going to the hospital to see the victims and to commiserate with them, their families and loved ones, there is need for me to pay a courtesy call on the governor who has done a yeoman’s job and commendable one in terms of speed of his response to this unfortunate incident.
“Recall that I told you that the President put a phone call to him, to commend him and sympathise with him and the people of Oyo state and the victims and also issued a statement after expressing his own sentiments and I also did.
“So, this is a culmination of the establishment of acknowledgement of the federal government on what the Oyo State governor and government has done, and this is very remarkable.
“The President is very impressed, we are all impressed, no body wishes anybody any disaster but wish that our people will respond commendably to any unfortunate situation, not even unfortunate but any situation at all
“And on our own part, we immediately swung into action, but like I keep saying, we will also allow the investigative agencies, the various agencies, technical and intelligence agencies to conclude their forensic investigation before we make any categorical, verifiable and authentic statement on the issue.
“All the corollary affairs and issues attending these will be answered at the end of the investigation and everybody will kept well informed
“But my role here is to come and commiserate with the governor and commend his very efficient and effective effort that he put in place immediately after the unfortunate incident.”
Asked on how long the report will take to be submitted, the Minister who did not give a definite time frame assures that it will take shorter than anyone thinks or expect.
“The president has promise to do everything in his power to give succor to victims, and don’t forget I also told you that drawing from the experience of what we had, on a larger magnitude in Lagos in 2002, the Ikeja cantonment blast, when our current president was the governor and I was Commissioner under him then, I knew what we faced.
“So, drawing from that experience, of course at that time it was the state government that bore the brunt of it and you know that casualty. We are drawing from a wealth of experience in approaching all of these things, so it will be meticulous, authenticated, efficiently implemented, whatever the report says, and at the end of the day, justice will be done, not just to the victims but to the perpetrators and culprits, and of course, whatever assistance that will be needed to be given to Oyo State government, the President will not hesitate to give that”, he added.
In his brief remarks, host governor Makinde appealed to the people of the state to be patient with the government because it is doing everything within the powers to ensure that people actually get looked after.
He said the government will wait for the report on the integrity test on the structures before deciding on what to do with the affected buildings.
He added that the government is looking at extending the temporary accommodation provided for the victims as well as enhance the safety and security of the place till the completion of forensic test and integrity test.
Makinde said “We will wait for the report from the team carrying out structural integrity test. But the bottom line is that, first we need to extend the temporary accommodation we are giving to people.
“We also need to ensure that the place is safe and secure and all the forensic pathologists, the work they are doing, we have to encourage them to continue but there’s still a lot to be done.
“I don’t think we have faced this kind of calamity around here before, so people should be patient with us because we are doing everything within the powers of the state government to ensure that people actually get looked after.”
