Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, on Wednesday, signed into law Executive Order 001, 2024, on handling and storage of harmful devices in the state.
This is pursuant to Sections 5(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
It, therefore, becomes a criminal offence for anyone, company or institution resident or domicile in Oyo state to directly or indirectly store explosives without government permission and approvals.
The governor, in a brief ceremony held at his private office, said the move was part of measures to forestall future occurrence of the same or similar events with regards to illegally storing explosives and endangering the lives and properties of others.
While saying that with the new law, such an incident will never reoccur in the state became imperative in light of the unfortunate incident at Bodija, where explosives were stored in a residential area.
After the signing, Makinde, with other government functionaries, proceeded to the ground zero of the blast.
The governor who spoke with journalists said: ” I just signed an executive order on handling and storage of harmful substances. If you are caught in Oyo State not following the law, the law will take its full course. There is zero tolerance on handling of harmful substances”.
It will be recalled an explosion occurred at Dejo Oyelese close, Bodija in Ibadan two weeks ago in which five persons lost their lives, 77 injured, 58 houses affected and unspecified number of vehicles destroyed
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