Bodies of 3 Bethlehem Girls College staff recovered
Joy Anyim
A newly-wed couple, who had been married barely four months, were said to be part of the fatalities of the Sunday explosion at Abule-Ado area in Lagos. The couple lost their lives in the explosion.
The couple, identified as Emma and Chisom, were said to be in their 3-bedroom flat apartment at No. 16 Gani Adams Road, Abule-Ado, when the explosion rocked the area.
Emma, a businessman, was said to be the owner of the two-storey building which collapsed following the explosion.
His wife, Chisom, was also said to be three months pregnant before life was sniffed out of her in the explosion.
According to a tenant of the deceased, Mr. Shola, who described the couple as ‘peace-loving’, the demise of the couple was unforeseen and very unfortunate incident.
Shola, who was not at home when the explosion occurred, said the other occupant of another apartment in the building, had also left for church with his family that morning before the explosion.
According to Shola, “It was just the landlord and his pregnant wife that were at home. I and my wife were not at home and my neighbour had also left for church with his family. Their death is really tragic.”
Similarly, the management of Bethlehem Girls College said it has discovered that no student died in the Sunday explosion.
According to the Director of Education for Catholic ArchDiocese of Lagos State, Monsignor Jerome Oduntan, the 268 students of the school are all safe and alive.
He disclosed that 50 of the students sustained injuries because of the stampede.
Said he, “We took them to the hospital and they were treated and discharged and all the students are at home with their parents.
“But we still have two students that are undergoing treatment at the Naval hospital and one at LASUTH.
“Three students are undergoing treatment at the moment. Not even a single student died and no student is missing.
“However, I am still gathering information on the number of staffs that are yet to be accounted for. So I won’t be able to tell you how many we are looking for.
“We have about 80 staff including teaching and non teaching staffs. I can only confirmed two staffs that died yesterday, the administrator, that is the principal and a female security officer. Those are the ones I can confirm for now, ” he said.
However, the Assistant Bursar of the school, Udeze Lilianzita, said the bodies of her three colleagues were recovered in the debris, on Monday.
She maintained that the Sunday explosion was not a gas-related explosion but she believed it was a bomb blast.
According to her: “What I really want to say is that this is a bomb blast. It was something that was planted and that is why it escalated like this.
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“It started across the road, where we were seeing smoke. The student were at mass, which was for 8:30a.m.
“I stay at the staff quarters, but had stepped lit for church service. One of my colleague who was in the quarters sleeping lost her life.
“Right now the admin block is down, the classroom blocks are down. I can tell that three of my colleagues lost their lives. The cook died, her name is Irene , Oufre Idemudia, a very good friend also died.
“No student died, because security men were quick to move them over the fence. They just sustained injuries, and some of their parents came to take them home. The principal who died was trying to save the children, when a pillar fell on her.
“Generally speaking, our security system is down. People are now looting the area, the security agencies should look into the situation.
“Lagos is a mega city and things like this should not be heard. This is obviously not a pipeline explosion.