Some Malian illegal miners have been fingered in the recent explosion that rocked Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The allegation was leveled against the illegal miners by some residents of Adeyi Avenue in Bodija.
NIGERIACRIME reported that at least three persons have been confirmed dead while scores of others injured, and property worth billions of naira destroyed.
Speaking on the incident that has attracted the reactions of Nigerians far and wide, including President Bola Tinubu who described it as “worrisome”, a resident of Adeyi Avenue, who simply identified himself as Apa, said there were no illegal mining sites in the area.
However, he blamed illegal miners from the West African country, Mali, who lived in the area for the explosion.
He added that the Federal Government should send illegal miners out of the country, sayingvvv his neighbour agreed with him that the explosion was caused by explosive materials, which the Malians used for illegal mining.
Recounting his experience, he said, “When I called my neighbour, she said, ‘You remember those Malians?’ There must be equipment they’re using for doing their mining work that must have exploded, and that equipment is not a cheap material. It’s something that’s very heavy.
“If the explosion had happened in Odogbo barracks, then one would say yes, they have all sorts of things there. That thing is not supposed to be kept in this type of environment. And wherever such equipment is kept, it must be under-regulated humidity. Maybe the temperature would have triggered it, and that’s my own suspicion.
“There is nothing like illegal mining here. It’s miners that live here that brought the equipment and they are Malians.
“This is a lesson for the Nigerian government to decide whether we still want to keep such people in our country. Malians do a lot of things apart from this; they cause a lot of havoc. The government should start thinking about what to do with them, and if you find out they don’t have documents to live in this country, you know what to do.”
Speaking to journalists on the explosion, another Bodija resident, Taiwo Salami, said, “Many have died. We saw corpses all over the street last night (Tuesday). It just has to stop. Not only in Ibadan, in Niger, in Sokoto, in Abuja, everywhere.
“There is chaos and disorder in this country. This is not the country everybody wants to live in. This is not the country of our dreams. It’s just ridiculous. Where do people start from? Lives have been lost. Can they be gained back? They cannot! Everybody woke up yesterday, thinking this is 2024.
“This is January for goodness sake. Is this how we are going to start the year? How many more of such do we have in other neighbourhood that we are not even sure of? I’m tired.”