One of the victims of the Tuesday explosion that occurred at the Bodija area of Ibadan, Oyo State will undergo a brain surgery having suffered a fracture in the skull and a leakage of blood from the vessel supplying blood into his brain.
According to Tribune, findings revealed that the victim is one of seven remaining patients still receiving treatment at the University College Hospital, Ibadan.
The victim, it was learnt, was in a semiconscious state when he was referred from a private hospital to UCH two days ago. He is still being attended to at the accident and emergency unit of the hospital.
Reports revealed that another victim at the unit was said to have jumped down from a building during the explosion and sustained a fracture in the left leg.
At the North West 1 ward, another patient who was unconscious when brought in regained consciousness a day ago after a series of treatments.
The Federal Government had sent its representatives to visit the victims of the explosion at the UCH on Saturday and inspected the damages to the hospital for future repairs.
President Bola Tinubu, represented by the Minister for State Health and Social Welfare, Dr Tunji Alausa, described the explosion as unfortunate, stressing that the visit was to show the government’s passion for the people in the country.
He spoke with the seven patients who are still receiving treatment at the accident and emergency unit, North West Ward, and the Private Suite of the hospital.
“The visit has two prongs: to see some of the victims of the explosion and the unfortunate incident that happened. The president was informed that several victims of the incident were brought to UCH. So, he asked me to come personally to see each of them and report back to him.
“This is part of his care, his intention, and his passion for the citizens of Nigeria, more so than his determination to improve our healthcare delivery system.
“I was told that 17 patients were brought here; 10 of them were already discharged alive. I have seen the seven of them in admission, and they are doing well. I asked them specifically how the care UCH is providing them has been. Each of them said in an equivocal manner that they were getting excellent care.
“I assure you that the Federal Ministry of Health will help to repair some of these damages. All in all, there is no structural involvement in any of the buildings. These are just minor damages, and we will work quickly to start the repairs.
“The CMD has assured an engineering committee to do integrity tests of the affected buildings. We want our patients, staff, and everyone else in the hospital to be safe,” the president said during the visit.
Taking the president around hospital, The UCH Chief Medical Director, Professor Jesse Otegbayo, declared in an update that the hospital had received 20 victims of the explosion, including three that were brought in dead but kept in the hospital’s morgue.
He added, “For now, we have not been charging these patients. I have directed the bills of these patients to be prepared; they must run into hundreds of thousands.”
In a related development, the Oyo State government on Saturday disclosed that it has concluded rescue operations on the site of the explosion, while adding that the site is now being fumigated.
A source at the Governor’s Office made this known, noting that as of now, the state government has concluded operations at the scene of the incident.
The source explained that those who were injured at various buildings had been taken to the hospitals while those who died have been taken to the morgues, adding that what the various emergency responders are doing at the site now is the fumigation exercise.
The source said, “For now, the rescue operation has been concluded; those injured had been taken care of while the bodies of those who died in the unfortunate incident had been evacuated to the mortuary. For now, we are fumigating the entire scene of the incident.”
Meanwhile, residents of Deji Oyelese Close when the explosion occurred have denied reports that a certain miner in Nigeria of Malian origin, Youssouf Sawane, whose name and photograph have gone viral on social media after he was accused of being responsible for the explosion is a resident of the area.
Sawane was implicated on Wednesday after some documents found at the scene linked him to a 2020 interview published by the Nigerian Tribune. Many social media users alleged that his activities as an alleged illegal miner in the state contributed to the cause of the blast that has killed up to five people at the last count.
In the interview, Sawane spoke in the capacity of the President, Oyo State chapter of the ECOWAS members, Nigeria Miners Association
But according to sources, who spoke with the Sunday Tribune, said Sawane is an unknown person to residents of the affected area.
Speaking on the development, Chief Iyiola Oladokun, the president of Dejo Oyelese Vigilante Group, an association for Dejo Oyelese residents, said, “I have been a secretary for many years before becoming the chairman. We do not know anybody like that in this estate. The only person we know as a foreigner is Mohammed Camara. He does come to meetings. He pays his dues.
“We later learnt that he was a miner, but when he came, I was not the chairman then. He told them (the association) that he worked for a United Nations organisation, and that he was the West African representative of that organisation; and would be based in Nigeria, but he would not always be around. That was the information he gave to them then.”
He pointed out that the person of interest who is going viral on social media is someone the association “has no knowledge about.”
The chairman then said that Camara had not been sighted since the incident occurred.
