Pandemonium broke out in the Agbado community of Ifo Local Government Area in Ogun State following a mysterious explosion which emanated from a round object along the Adiyan Road, Rafco bus stop.
It was gathered that the explosion rocked the area on Saturday, March 21, 2015 after a 17-year-old boy, Olawale Adekanbi, who was returning from an errand kicked the mysterious object which he thought to be a ball and subsequently picked it up.
The object reportedly exploded thereafter shattering his arm in the process and leaving him with injuries in the legs.
The attention of the victim’s parents was called to the scene and they rushed him to a hospital nearby.
Adekanbi, who is on admission at Dr. Happiness clinic, a local medical facility in the area, said he was returning from the errand when he found a “ball” and decided to play with it.
He said, “When I woke up on Saturday, my dad asked me to run an errand for him. When I was retuning, around 9am, I saw something that looked like a ball on the road and I started kicking it and playing with it.
“When I approached the main road and saw many vehicles on the road, I decided to pick it up. As I picked it, it exploded in my hand and shattered my palm.”
The victim’s mother, Wunmi Adekanbi, said she also heard the deafening noise of the explosion.
She said, “We were all in the sitting room that morning when his dad said the television was faulty and since it was election period, there was need to know what was going on.
“His dad said he should call the technician that would repair the TV.
“Some minutes later, we heard a blast and we were all frightened. People started screaming my son’s name and I rushed there. When I got there, his hand was gone.”
The traditional ruler of the community, Alhaji Lateef Adewale, was of the view that the incident was a bomb explosion.
He said, “When I arrived at the scene and saw the victim, I knew it was not just an ordinary explosion. I have been a traditional ruler here for about 10 years and I have never witnessed this kind of thing before. It was nothing but a bomb explosion.”
While confirming the incident, the state police spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, said, “We didn’t have any bomb explosion because we sent a team to the place, led by the OC Explosive Ordinance Department of the police, and we could not see any material, item or remnant to suggest it was a bomb. But they are claiming it was a bomb explosion that cut off the boy’s hand.
“Maybe it was a mysterious explosion, I cannot tell, because we could not see any material. The Commissioner of Police has ordered that the Divisional Police Officer and the EOD should continue to investigate the matter.”
