Abule Ado: How Lagos community lost over 20 lives, houses, and N2 billion worth of properties to gas explosion.
A Special Neusroom Feature on the Abule Ado Gas Explosion.
How a Lagos community lost over 20 lives, houses, and N2 billion worth of properties to gas explosion.
All stories by Taofik Bankole for Neusroom.
All photos and videos by Ifedola Ogundipe for
Aerial Advantage Global and Aro Joseph Kayode
for OEA Consults. (except otherwise stated).
19 March 2020
Residents of Abule-Ado, a community near FESTAC Town in Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos, woke up to a deafening explosion on the morning of March 15 2020, after a truck crashed into gas cylinders stacked in a gas processing plant.
Over 20 people, including an Administrator of the Bethlehem Girls College, Rev. Sister Henrietta Alokha and a family of four, died in the tragic incident.
Until a visit to the community, it is easy to dismiss the extent of residents’ loss as little, especially as the world – and – Nigeria – is focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from lives, affected residents are experiencing a tough time as they remain stranded after losing valuable properties.
Incident report by Aerial Advantage Global and OEA Consults exclusively obtained by Neusroom.
Many residents had barely finished dressing up in preparation for church services when a deafening explosion shook hundreds of houses to their foundations and made them crumble under their occupants’ feet.
“I was in the church when it happened”, Chioma, who resides on 3rd Avenue in FESTAC told Guardian. “Everywhere scattered immediately. We thought it was a bomb.”
The terrified residents hung on for dear lives as rubbles from weakened buildings fell on them and crushed their bones, but close by, many others were not so lucky as their homes were quickly engulfed in flames. Among the unlucky residents were Emmanuel and Chisom Udoakonobi, a newlywed couple who were supposed to travel to Canada two days after the tragic incident. They were said to have been killed after the pillar of their building fell on their car. Chisom, reports say, was three months pregnant.
Inside the badly damaged Bethlehem Girls College, Rev. Sister Henrietta Alokha also fought and risked her life to keep her students alive. The explosion had occurred when the boarding house students were observing mass. According to eyewitnesses, Alokha was reluctant to move to safety until the last child was rescued from the rubble of the battered hostels and Chapel. And even though several of the students escaped unscathed, Alokha didn’t make it out alive. By the time the dust settled, the Sister of the sacred heart – a female Catholic order devoted to spiritual and corporal works of mercy – had lost her life.
Incident report by Aerial Advantage Global and OEA Consults exclusively obtained by Neusroom.
“If that sound and shaking had occurred three times within 10 minutes, I’m sure some people would run to their villages by now,” another resident, a barber who declined to be named, said.
The Chairman of the Abule-Ado Community Development Association, Obi Chikezie, his wife and their son were another casualty that the community suffered in the explosion. Chikezie’s son, Joseph, had just had his traditional marriage and was planning his wedding when tragedy struck.
According to an incident report by Aerial Advantage Global and OEA Consults exclusively obtained by Neusroom, over 129 structures suffered high impact from the explosion, while 216 other structures experienced medium impact. 258 more structures experienced low impact, feeling the shock wave of the blast. Several vehicles were also damaged beyond repair.
For many residents living in Abule-Ado and its environs, the devastating explosion could only have come from a planted bomb as far as they are concerned, but the NNPC clarified in a statement shortly after that the explosion which has claimed about 20 lives was triggered after a truck crashed into gas cylinders stacked in a gas processing plant next to the NNPC 2B pipeline.
Nigerians have since been debating why the government sanctioned the area for residential purposes, considering the danger that residents could be exposed to due to the NNPC pipelines that run through. But for the residents’ sake, no blame game would suffice, as they set their already blurry sights on recovering from the shock and anguish the explosion left behind.
Lagos State governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, while evaluating the extent of the damage in the area a day after the incident (on Monday, March 16 2020), disclosed that N2 billion Abule Ado/Soba Emergency Relief Fund had been set up for the victims. He also said the state government has donated N250m to the fund and solicited support from all Nigerians including private sectors.
“The process of rebuilding this place is beyond what the Government, either at the national level or state, can also undertake on its own. Given the level of destruction, I am immediately setting up what I have called an Abule Ado/Ado Soba Emergency Relief Fund,” Sanwo-Olu said.
“It is a N2 billion relief fund and the state government will immediately be putting N250 million in that fund.”
Three banks have opened accounts for the Fund. Setting up this Fund is to give everybody the opportunity to be part of rebuilding this place and to be able to donate into it,” the governor added, before embarking on a visit to Aso Rock in Abuja hours later to display photos from the community on Muhammadu Buhari’s Presidential desk.
Incident report by Aerial Advantage Global and OEA Consults exclusively obtained by Neusroom.
Despite its seeming concern and dedication to bringing Abule-Ado back to life and providing affected residents with renewed hope for survival, the Lagos State government’s appeal for funds has not been well received by the general public who are of the opinion that the state generates more than enough to cater to the welfare of all affected persons in the explosion.
Covid-19 may be getting all the headlines, and rightly so, but for now, the affected people of Abule Ado would only be very much concerned about how to recover from this tragic event that may have changed their lives forever.
In Photos: How Abule-Ado Community Lost Over 20 Lives, Buildings And Properties Worth Over N2bn To Gas Explosion.
It’s been five days since residents of Abule-Ado, a community near FESTAC Town in Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos, woke up to a deafening explosion on the morning of March 15 2020, after a truck crashed into gas cylinders stacked in a gas processing plant. But the impact of the explosion and the tragedy it left in its wake will forever haunt the residents.
Until a visit to the community, it is easy to dismiss the extent of residents’ loss as little, especially as the world – and – Nigeria – is focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic.
See the devastating impact of the explosion in the aerial view images exclusively obtained by Neusroom below:
An Administrator of the Bethlehem Girls College, Rev. Sister Henrietta Alokha, died in the tragic incident.
A newlywed couple, Emmanuel and Chisom Udoakonobi, who were supposed to travel to Canada just two days after the tragic incident, were killed after the pillar of their building fell on their car. Chisom was three months pregnant. Photo: Emmanuel Udoakonobi
Incident report by Aerial Advantage Global and OEA Consults exclusively obtained by Neusroom.
216 other structures experienced medium impact.
Several vehicles were also damaged beyond repair.
258 more structures experienced low impact.
Over 500 houses felt the shock wave of the blast.
The Chairman of the Abule-Ado Community Development Association, Obi Chikezie, his wife, and their son also died in the explosion. Chikezie’s son, Joseph, had just had his traditional marriage and was planning his wedding when tragedy struck.
Incident report by Aerial Advantage Global and OEA Consults exclusively obtained by Neusroom.
Abule-Ado: Before And After Photos Of A Peaceful Community Rocked By Devastating Gas Explosion.
Before Abule-Ado, a community near FESTAC Town in Amuwo Odofin, suffered a devastating gas explosion on the morning of March 15 2020, it was a fully packed and relatively peaceful Lagos community.
Since the tragic incident, which resulted in the loss of over 20 lives and over N2bn worth of buildings and properties, the community has become a shadow of its old self. Residents, many of whom have been displaced since losing their homes and belongings, are trying to pick up the pieces of what remains of their once peaceful community.
See photos showing the community before and after the devastating explosion.
Moments before the explosion.
After the explosion.
Incident report by Aerial Advantage Global and OEA Consults exclusively obtained by Neusroom.
REPORT: Damage Assessment Analysis Show Abule-Ado Residents May Have Lost N7bn To Gas Explosion.
In a comprehensive incident report by Aerial Advantage Global in collaboration with OEA Consults, over 600 houses felt the impact of the gas explosion at Abule-Ado in different proportions on the morning of March 15 2020. Some buildings were completely obliterated, while some suffered damages that ranged from roof, pillar, and window disintegration.
About 200 vehicles were also completely destroyed in the blast, while well over 500 vehicles suffered from one damage or the other. The report put the estimated figure of total damage at a whopping N6.6 billion.
Aerial Advantage Global and OEA Consults damage assessment report shows the level of impact of the gas explosion at Abule-Ado.
Aerial Advantage Global and OEA Consults damage assessment analysis show that nearly N7 billion may have been lost to the gas explosion.
Aerial Advantage Global and OEA Consults damage assessment analysis show that nearly N7 billion may have been lost to the gas explosion.
Abule-Ado: Where do the people go from here?
All stories by Taofik Bankole for Neusroom.
All photos and videos by Ifedola Ogundipe for Aerial Advantage Global
and Aro Joseph Kayode for OEA Consults. (except otherwise stated).
