An explosion suspected to have been caused by cooking gas at the Lagos residence of the Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Yomi Awoniyi, located at 19B Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi, HFB Way, Lagos, on Saturday, resulted in the collapse of the building.
According to official report, the explosion was caused by a leakage from the cooking gas cylinder in the building and this resulted in the collapse of a part of the structure.
While three occupants in the house were said to have been trapped in the building, Awoniyi’s driver was said to have sustained some injuries as he was outside washing a car when the incident occurred.
Officials of the National Emergency Management Authority and neighbours helped to rescue the trapped victims and rushed them to the St. Maria Hospital, in the Yaba area of the state.
Confirming the explosion through in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Abu Micheal, the Deputy Governor said he was not in Lagos at the time of the of the incident and that his family was safe.
He said those affected by the explosion were doing well at the hospital.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, has warned those who take delight in setting government properties ablaze that his government would not spare them.
Buhari, who reacted the fire incident that hit the Mamman Kontagora Building in Lagos recently, destroying property worth several millions of naira, urged Nigerians, through the Buhari Support Organisation, to be conscious of their environments and report suspicious movements and activities to appropriate authorities.
In the statement issued by the organisation’s Director of Media, Information Management and ICT, Dr. Chidia Maduekwe, titled: ‘Burning of Public and Religious building shall attract severe sanctions’, Nigeria is again witnessing pre-1983 era when shortly before Buhari became the military Head of State, important and sensitive federal buildings were set ablaze by unpatriotic elements.
Madueke said: “That era is now being replayed with the recent fire incident that engulfed the Mamman Kontagora building in Lagos where property running into millions of naira was lost to the inferno.
“The Mamman Kotagora Building houses key government agencies such as the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, a financial institution that is key to the economic growth of the nation.
“In the same vein, we have suddenly been witnessing the orgy of killings and burning of places of worship by youth in Kaduna and Sokoto in particular.
“We are very worried about the timing of this fire incident as it coincides with another transitional period that is expected to usher in the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, as the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“While the fire incident is still being investigated by relevant authorities, we warn that such effrontery under any guise should seize forthwith.
“There will certainly be consequences and let no one be in doubt in testing the commitment of the incoming administration to sweep away all manners of wilful destruction of public property, killings and maiming going on under the guise of religion.”