Lagos Armoury Explosion - Aftermath

Aftermath

The final death toll is hard to compute, although the Red Cross claims that at least 1,000 bodies were recovered and a number of people were reported missing and never found. In addition to the dead, at least 5,000 people were injured in the disaster and over 12,000 left homeless, with entire districts of the city gutted. About 20,000 people had fled the city on the night of the explosion, and the survivors gradually returned over the course of the next week.

The Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo arrived in Ikeja on 28 January along with most senior city and national politicians, and he publicly demanded answers from the military as to why such a huge ammunition dump was kept in such a poorly maintained and public location. It later emerged that a small explosion had occurred at the base the previous year, following which the army was advised by city officials to remove or modernise the armoury, but took no action. On the evening of 28 January, George Emdin, the commander of the Ikeja base who had not been present during the explosion, issued a statement:

"On behalf of the military, we are sorry, this is an old ammunition depot with high-calibre bombs ... some efforts were being made in the recent past to try to improve the storage facility, but this accident happened before the high authorities could do what was needed"

This statement provoked fury from the people of Lagos, who claimed that the military was making excuses for their mistakes and that nothing would be done to improve safety at other neglected ammunition dumps, many of which have not been properly maintained since Nigeria gained democracy in 1999 following twenty years of military rule. There were widespread fears in the immediate aftermath of the explosion that it signified the beginning of a military coup, although the government later released a statement ruling out this possibility.

Numerous relief agencies, including the Red Cross and Red Crescent, provided aid to the thousands of homeless and lost people in the weeks following the disaster, attempting to reunite at least 2,000 separated or displaced families. People whose homes had survived were evacuated from Ikeja in order that military explosives experts could remove large quantities of unexploded munitions from the area. The evacuees and refugees were housed in temporary accommodation at the Ikeja Police College and the Abalti Barracks Yaba. The recovery process in Ikeja took some years as the rebuilding program was both lengthy and expensive, with many people suffering homelessness and poverty in this period due to the loss of their houses and livelihoods in the fire.