Victims of the explosion which rocked Eleyewo, near Akure the Ondo State capital early on Saturday morning, have asked both the state and federal governments to rebuild their houses which were destroyed.
They were led by the Royal Father of the community, the Olu of Eleyewo,
Chief Boboye Ojo Adekunle, who appealed to government to rebuild the houses of the victims who are mainly farmers.
He said: “We earlier did not know what happened. Part of my palace was affected. Some persons are in the hospital. The police came for the rescue. The government should help people because they are farmers. They cannot just raise money to build new houses.”
Though no lives were lost in the incident, several persons sustained injuries; while over 50 houses, including two churches, a boarding school and several vehicles were destroyed.
Ondo State Chairman of Christian Association, CAN, Rev John Ayoladapo, described the incident as a national disaster.
He said: “The volume of destruction here is beyond what one can imagine. The entire compound is littered and shattered. I went to the hospital to see those injured. They are now stable.
Getting here to see the level destruction showed it must have been divine for them to be in that state they are now. All the buildings here were destroyed beyond repair.
We are happy no lives were lost but government needs to come out to say what really happened. This is last Friday of the month, there would have been large numbers of people in the church. That is why we thank God. If not for the corona virus, more people would have been involved.”
Already, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has visited the scene where he explained that the explosion was caused by a faulty vehicle conveying explosives to a storage centre in a neighbouring state.
The explosion occurred about 1 am, smashing the the buildings on most of the victims in their sleep and destroying entirely many of the buildings.
There was no all night service at the Possibility Prayer Mountain for All Nations church while at the Holy Promise Celestial Church where there was vigil, the members, including a family of five, escaped death by the whiskers when the roof came down on them after the explosion.
Witnesses said the explosion occured when the truck conveying the explosives to a quarry site caught fire in front of the Possibility Prayer Mountain for All Nations church along the Akure-Owo highway.
All attempts by the occupants to put out the fire failed and they advised some policemen at a checkpoint to run for safety before the explosives went off.
The defeaning sound reverberated in Akure city, tearing many residents off their sleep.
A big crater was created at the site of explosion as it was said the truck conveying the explosives was buried in the ground.
A security personnel at the school who refused to be named said he saw the truck when it caught.
He said he saw and heard four occupants of the truck running away and telling policemen at a checkpoint not to go near the truck.
“It was not long we heard boom. The soun shook us and we thought we have been attacked. We don’t know the occupants. Theu just keep running away.”
A son of the founder of Possibility Prayer Mountain for All Nations church, Mr. Kehinde Ayelabu, said his mother, Prophetess Olayemi Adesida Omo Obajesu and two other families were affected and have been hospitalized.
“I work here in the church. I got a message that something happened here. I came here this morning and saw all the buildings have collapsed. I asked our security and he said a vehicle was passing by and it caught fire.
“They are stable in the hospital. None of them died. They are all alive.”
A security personnel at the church who gave his name as Noah, said he crawled out of his room after the building collapsed.
“It happened around 1am. I was in my room. I heard a sound boom. It was horrible. I had to manage to crawl out because the ceiling in my room pulled down. I came out and saw that all the houses have been destroyed. We tried to remove babies that ceiling fell on. We thank God.”
Mrs. Abiodun Faseye, whose residence was destroyed, said they would have died if they had not gone to an all night service.
She however said the church collapsed on them after the explosion.
“We got home and saw that our building has collapsed. If we were to be at home, our house would have fallen on us. I am a widow and I don’t have anybody to help me.”
Another resident, Mr. Blessing Matthew, said they were sleeping when the blast occurred.
“We thought it was an attack but we came out and saw people outside. Ŵe want the government to rebuild our houses. We heard the bomb that exploded is federal government property. They should come and build our houses.
“The truck propeller is inside the church. The gear fell inside the town. Our building has been destroyed. The truck is still inside the ground. The effect broke my house into 10 places. My daughter injured where the glass got broken.”
Mary Akiola said they shouted for help when the walls collapsed.
“The block hit us but we are okay. I was inside the room with five of my children”
The Nation
