Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief Olu Falae, has called for immediate repair of the road and compensations to the affected victims.
Falae, a one-time finance minister and the Olu of Ilu Abo, where the incident happened, described the incident as a great disaster.
“The two buildings that are very important to Ilu-Abo community, Possibility Church and the school were destroyed. It is a great disaster to Ilu-Abo and Akure land.
“We want government to quickly repair the road and the perpetrators of this evil act should compensate victims”.
Also, the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Undie Adie, said “The consignment was dully escorted by the personnel of Police Explosive Ordinance Department, EOD that were equipped, trained and charged with the responsibility of taking care of explosives of any kind.
“This consignment was dully escorted but unfortunately along the road here, the vehicle developed fault. When the driver noticed it,( from the explanation of the escort commander), they had to move away from where there were houses so that they could put off the problem, that was when they parked and noticed that smoke was emitting from the engine.
“The effort to control it wasn’t possible but rather it was fire and they had to move away quickly from the scene by taking the normal professional drill which was why they were all saved.
“We thank God that this area was a church and a school. Fortunately because of this Coronavirus closure the school is not in session.
“It is accident and I am not sure it is what we could have been able to control. We’ve commenced investigation and I have called the Managing Director of the company that was to receive the consignment and I believe they are on their way.
“We have spoken to people here to stay far away from the scene, our EOD are fully on ground”.
Meanwhile, the Olu of Eleyowo, Chief Boboye Adekunle, has appealed to the state government to come to their rescue, saying so many buildings, including his palace were damaged.
Narrating how the incident happened, a community vigilante, Mr. Stephanus Soya, said the incident happened around 1am when they were on patrol.
“A truck parked and we saw three people opening the bonnet. The vehicle was coming from Akure road going to Owo side.
“We moved closer to them and we continued our patrol. Minutes after that we saw fire coming out of the vehicle and the people started running before it exploded. My colleague fainted but revived shortly after”.