An explosion has rocked and damaged parts of four buildings in Offa in Kwara State on Thursday night, injuring about five people, including a couple and their little daughter.
The sad incident occurred along the Offa-Ijagbo road.
According to a landlady whose house was damaged, the incident occurred around 10 pm when she started hearing an unusual humming noise, which later led to the object falling on her building.
‘I don’t know exactly what happened. Something landed on the ground. I can’t really describe it’, the woman, identified as Victoria Macharty.
‘It was this morning that they came and picked up the object. There was a small box, another item that looked like rims, and pieces of iron.
‘We stayed here and did not allow anyone to enter, so nobody would pick anything. This morning, the chairman of our local government came with the said was an anti-bomb unit, and they packed the items’.
She listed things damaged to include ‘the fence, the house, and two windows.
‘Investigations are Ongoing’
Another eyewitness who spoke off camera said an artisan was also affected, with four adjoining buildings severely damaged.
Assessing the damages, the Chairman of Offa Local Government Area (LGA), Olatunji Sulaiman, allayed the fears of community members.
Sulaiman explained that it is not a bomb, as military personnel have visited and are currently investigating to determine the exact material involved.
‘Only a few homes were affected, and the situation has been taken care of’, the LGA boss said.
‘We cannot yet say exactly what happened because investigations are ongoing. After the examination and report, we will be able to say what exactly occurred.
‘But we want to clear the air for the public that this was not a bomb explosion or a plane crash. It is an incident under investigation. Thankfully, there was no casualty, and the situation is calm’.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in Kwara State, Adekimi Ojo, in a telephone interview, explained that what happened was just an ordinance, and IED experts have evacuated the debris.
