At least four persons have lost their lives in an explosion that rocked the palace of Ohinoyi of Ebiraland in Kogi State, Alhaji Ado Ibrahim.
It was gathered that the explosion, the actual cause of which has yet to be ascertained, occurred around 9 am on Thursday.
According to a source the explosion was from a transformer, adding that “four persons are dead.”
The police and other relevant authorities have yet to issue statements on the incident.
President Muhammadu Buhari is scheduled to visit Kogi State on Thursday (today), and the state government has already declared a public holiday in the state as a result of the visit.
An eyewitness said the incident happened around 9 a.m., shortly before President Muhammadu Buhari arrived at Okene to commission Governor Yahaya Bello’s legacy projects.
A resident, Mallam Abubakar Ahmed, said they heard a loud noise at the palace’s second gate.
“The noise of the explosion was followed shortly by wailing and screaming from the neighbourhoods. Later, we saw soldiers moving towards the direction of the palace,” Ahmed said.
However, a conflicting report is still trailing the actual cause of the incident, as some attributed it to Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) rather than transformer explosion being claimed in some quarters.
According to the early hours’ report from the scene, the victims of the explosion included an okada rider, a driver and two others who were caught in the explosion.
As of this report, the Kogi State Police Command’s spokesperson, SP William Aya, had not responded to calls and text messages about the incident.
