Abule Ado: How Lagos community lost over 20 lives, houses, and N2 billion worth of properties to gas explosion

Residents of Abule-Ado, a community near FESTAC 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’ losses to the gas explosion as little, especially as the world – and Nigeria – is being distracted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from dealing with the tragic loss of lives, affected residents are experiencing a tough time as they remain stranded after losing valuable properties.

An aerial view of the community shortly after the explosion exclusively obtained by Neusroom shows that over 130 buildings and properties with an estimated worth of over N2 billion were directly affected and left in ruins by the gas explosion.

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.

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. 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.

An Administrator of the Bethlehem Girls College, Rev. Sister Henrietta Alokha died in the tragic incident.

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.

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, 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.

Several houses were badly damaged during the explosion. Photo: Ifedola Ogundipe for Aerial Advantage Global and Aro Joseph Kayode for OEA Consults.

Lagos State governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, while evaluating the extent of the damage in the area a day after the incident (on Monday), 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.

Hundreds of cars were also lost to the explosion.

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.