Many usually approach weekends with cherry hearts. They are special days to unwind after strenuous working days. On Sunday, March 15, Reverend Sister Henrietta Alokha, the Principal of Bethlehem Girls’ College, Abule-Ado, Lagos, ha
d a number of schedules slated to enliven the day. From a mass with her boarding female pupils to a family get-together to hold after church service, the 52-year-old administrator could not have wished for a better weekend. Like her, hundreds of residents woke up in high spirits that Sunday ready to explore the weekend to the fullest.
The groovy mood had barely started when it waned around 9am–suddenly. A loud explosion from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation pipelines ripped through the community and its environs. Houses built after many years of toiling were horribly shattered to smithereens with hundreds of dwellers displaced.
In the wake of the tragedy, the once serene neighbourhood became a theatre of woes. Henrietta paid the supreme price while rescuing her pupils trapped in the rubble. Instead of reveling in the happiness of the weekend, her family members and those of 21 other persons killed in the explosion were thrown into tear-jerking state.
“Nobody ever imagined this would happen,” Anselem, the elder brother of the late reverend sister, remarked mournfully as he shared his last moments with her.
He recalled, “I spoke to her on Saturday on the phone. She was busy attending to pupils to be admitted into the school. I was to see her on Sunday. My family had planned to visit her around 12pm after mass. Unfortunately, the tragedy happened when people were still in church.”
Describing her as a hero with a humble beginning, Anselem said his sister led a peaceful and selfless life and exited the world doing what she loved.
“I can only thank God for her life and the way she looked after her ‘children’ (pupils) even at the point of death. She lived a fulfilled life. What happened on Sunday is a pointer to the fact that there is a thin line between life and death. You can never tell what will happen the next minute,” the bereaved brother added.
Narrating the life and time of the native of Agenebode, in the Etsako Local Government Area of Edo State, Anselem stated that Henrietta was in constant touch with friends and families without compromising her calling.
He said, “Nobody knew this kind of situation would arise at this time because she was full of life the previous day I spoke to her on the phone. It was a tragic end and shocking but we believe God has a reason for everything.
“She led a fulfilled life because from her secondary school days, she took the decision to join that religious life and never looked back. She loved children. I learnt that this is not the first time she would rescue children from difficult situations.
“She loved attending functions of relations and friends. Even if she had to spend 10 minutes with there, she would come. We were close. When she was transferred from her diocese to Lagos in 2018, I was happy to have somebody I could share my thoughts with.”
One explosion, many ruins
As of Friday, 22 deaths – including couples, children, officials of Bethlehem Girls’ College –had been recorded. Apart from Henrietta, two cooks, a guard and a worker at the Accountant Department of the school lost their lives.
At least 57 persons sustained varying degrees of injury, according to official records while about eight schools, 170 houses and 43 vehicles were destroyed by the explosion.
Our correspondents who visited the disaster scene during the week saw affected residents searching through rubble of buildings which once served as their homes to salvage their belongings. The crowd that thronged the scene was as huge as the losses recorded as victims bemoaned the huge loss the tragic incident left in its trails.
A once beautiful edifice on Hycent Maduka Street was the major asset of 66-year-old Ocheja Godwin could boldly lay claim to after working for over three decades as a stockbroker. He moved into the house some three years ago as a modestly fulfilled man. Unfortunately, his joy was short-lived as the house collapsed during the Sunday explosion.
“My other house was still under construction. It also went down with the explosion. I have a three-bedroom duplex and another six-bedroom flats apartment under construction opposite the house I lived. I watched everything I worked for going down the drain,” he disclosed, exposing a forlorn stance.
Godwin narrated that immediately the explosion happened, he accepted his fate and thought he would die in the incident as he wasn’t strong enough to run for his dear life.
He said, “I surrendered everything to God when the incident occurred. I was in my house on Sunday Morning preparing to go for 10am mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Abule-Ado. I started to hear noises and then breaking of glasses. I heard a loud sound that shook my house from the foundation. I came out trying to find out what happened. Immediately I came out, I saw that there was a thick cloud, the atmosphere was no longer clear.
“I saw people running. At that point, I knew there was chaos already. I was confused because I wasn’t even strong enough to run anywhere. I just sat in front of my house there looking and I said let the will of God be done. I have not been in the best state of health for some years. There was no one to carry me; I was just alone with God.”
He added, “It was later in the afternoon that my son came to pick me up. My wife and the two girls that were living with us were stuck outside. They had earlier gone for the 8am mass. You can imagine the shock of leaving one’s house in the morning and returning to find out that one no longer has a house; that was the situation.
“I built the apartment with my savings. I haven’t even been paid my pension. It is still a nightmare that all I have is gone at 66. Where do I start from?”
A landlord on Korodo Street, Mr Charles Okechukwu, sat aimlessly in his compound when one of Saturday PUNCH him on Tuesday. His handsome looks contrasted the enormous damage to his six bedroom flats. His eyes roved in utter disbelief as he lamented what had become of the property he laboured for years to acquire.
The roofs of his houses –a storey building of four bedroom flat, a two bedroom apartment and a self-contained structure–had all gone.
He stated, “My family and I were not at home when the explosion occurred. We went for my child dedication at St Joseph Catholic Church. My tenants also attended the dedication.
“That room (he pointed at one of the apartments), my wife and our son usually relaxed there every Sunday when other family members had gone to church and the door would be locked until we returned. It’s God’s wish the explosion happened when we went for child dedication. If we were around, there would have been a lot of casualties.
“It was not easy. I struggled to build the houses. I sold my shop at Trade Fair to plaster the storey building and do the roofing. I used rent paid to do the remaining work bit by bit because I didn’t have enough money.”
Like many residents, the 46-year-old trader believed there was more to the incident than pipeline explosion, noting that the bang shook everywhere.
He added, “We were in consecration around 8.30am when the explosion happened. Everybody started running around but the priest told us to stay. People ran to the church and told us everywhere had been destroyed. When I got home and saw the damage, I was helpless.
“Many people died. My neighbour who is a widow lost her son and his wife including their maid. A landlord called Obi also died with his wife and their son who wanted to marry next month. They were burnt beyond recognition. My family and I now live with my in-law in FESTAC, but I thank God for our lives.
“We learnt that the Federal Government wants to reclaim some land. They should show us mercy and allow us to retain our land. If they can support us to fix the damage, we will appreciate it but they should not take the land from us.”
As pathetic as Okechukwu’s plight appears, a tenant on Agbebeji Street, Mrs Grace Philips, her husband and their five children, had been confronted with a nastier situation after the explosion shattered the roof of their rented house.
“We have been sleeping in the house like that because we have nowhere to go to. The mosquitoes are much at night even though we sleep under the nets. Our landlord is a widow. We don’t know when she would fix the roof.
“I was inside when we started hearing people shouting ‘fire.’ My children, aged 12, 10, seven, five and three years, ran away and I followed them. My husband had already gone to church,” she recounted amid teary eyes.
Few metres away, a retiree, Mrs Tina Adaorah, leaned on one of the pillars of his three-bedroom flat, staring at roofing sheets littering the premises. She had moved into the house upon its completion in 2018, excited that his over two decades of savings had paid off.
The building together with another self-contained apartment on the premises was a ‘castle’ she adored every day until that Sunday when the tragedy struck.
“I was in the church when the explosion occurred. I used my savings over the years as a civil servant to build the house. I am no longer working so I have no idea where I would get money to fix the damage. My vehicle was also destroyed,” she explained amid tears.
Miscreants feasting on residents’ woes
In a disturbing twist to the disaster, some miscreants took advantage of the situation to steal valuables of displaced residents. While the victims were torn between confusion and shock, burglars sneaked into buildings with glee, compounding the owners’ ordeal.
Joseph Odenze, 32, was not only displaced but also lost some of his property to thieves.
He lamented, “For now, I don’t know where to go to. I just want to keep my property safe first. As I was trying to help in putting out the fire in my neighbour’s house, some thieves entered my house and stole many things in my kitchen. They also stole my new pumping machine.”
Odenze, who said he witnessed the moment the community went up in flames, told Saturday PUNCH that he would have been caught in his mangled apartment if he did not act fast.
He stated, “I am not always at home on Sundays. I am either at work or in church. But last Sunday, I didn’t go anywhere because my phone was off and I was looking for means to charge it. I went to a friend’s house to charge it with a generator because there was no power. I also have a generator but it is faulty.
“After plugging my phone, I left to buy the spare part so I can fix my generator. I was returning home to get money when I saw a tipper that got stuck inside the pipeline trying to come out. While the tyres were rolling on that spot, I suddenly heard a burst and the fuel started gushing out.
“It was flowing and the atmosphere was as charged as if tear gas canister was fired. Everywhere was hazy and smelling of fuel. That was when I ran inside to pick my pregnant wife and our child. We had not got to the third compound from our house when the explosion went off. It threw my wife some metres away from me and she sustained injuries in the legs but her pregnancy is safe.”
A landlord, Okechukwu, also said his tenant lost her jewellery and laptop to one of the thieves who cashed in on the explosion.
“My son who arrived home before me said he saw a man inside of the flats looking for property to steal. The thief fled on sighting him. Later, one of my tenants complained that her laptop and gold jewellery were stolen,” he said.
We lost seven officials, one missing – Bethlehem College
The Director of Education for Catholic Archidiocese of Lagos, Msgr Jerome Oduntan, in an interview with one of our correspondents on Thursday said seven bodies of the officials of the college had been recovered while one person was still missing.
Oduntan said the gravity of the disaster cast doubts on the narrative of pipeline explosion, urging that thorough investigation should be carried out into the incident.
He said, “I don’t stay on the campus here. What I saw on getting there was really pathetic. People want us to believe it was pipeline explosion but what one can see there gives another impression. I will want the government to carry out investigation and tell us what could have happened.
“Unfortunately for us, we lost the reverend sister in charge of the school while she was trying to save her pupils. But we thank God none of the children died. Some of them sustained injuries; they were treated and discharged.
“Apart from the administrator of the school, we equally lost a security official, a woman, two cooks and a worker at the Account Department. We have recorded seven deaths and we are still looking for a gardener, Mr Aliyu Ali.’’
Injured pupils, residents’ close shave with death
“Sunday is a day I will never forget in my life,” said 15-year-old Ogochukwu Nnachi as she groaned in pains.
Nnachi, who is also the head girl of Bethlehem Girls’ College, said they were inside the refectory for morning mass when they started to perceive the smell of fuel and before she knew what was happening, they heard the sound of the explosion and she tried to escape with other pupils.
That was the last she knew about the incident until she woke up to find her crying mum beside her.
“My schoolmates and I were at the refectory attending mass. All of a sudden, we started perceiving fuel. The principal rushed told us to escape through the other way and I heard gboa (explosion)! We all tried to escape from the building and that was the last I knew. I still cannot remember many things,” she narrated during a chat with Saturday PUNCH at Nigerian Navy Reference Hospital, Ojo, where she was admitted.
Although Nnachi still had yet to fully recall her memories, the picture of her late principal was clear in her mind.
“Our principal is an exceptional woman. She was caring, agile, strong, brave and hard-working. She was a mother to us in school. I will really miss her,” she intoned.
Like Nnachi, another pupil, Cynthia Aguncha, 15, who sustained a bruise, is traumatised.
“If the school is rebuilt in that particular place, I wouldn’t want to return there because of the pipeline. But I am ready to continue my education in another Catholic school in Lagos as promised by the management,” she stated.
Aguncha added, “I cried as we pushed one another and struggled to escape. It was somebody that pulled me out of the fence. The principal told us to run while trying to save us from the fire. She was a courageous person. I would miss a many things about her. I can’t find her replacement.”
A 43-year-old widow, Mrs. Nurat Jimoh, explained that the incident had left an everlasting scar in her heart.
She said, “I was in the bathroom when I heard a loud sound and the whole house shook. The roof of my house fell on my head and that was the last I knew. I didn’t know if I was brought to the hospital naked or with clothes. I later found out that my child and granddaughter were also affected and hospitalised too. We were all in the house when it happened.”
Jimoh told Saturday PUNCH that the incident had taken all that her late husband left for her and she is now without hope.
She added, “Even though I am alive, I am hopeless. I am a widow, my husband died five years, ago. The incident is like a movie to me. I cry whenever I remember that I have nothing anymore. Even when I get discharged from the hospital, I don’t have anywhere to go to.”
Unlike others who are recuperating, the case of Oluchi Adiegwu is pathetic. She lay calmly on the hospital bed with bandages as shield on her body. She was oblivious of her fate due to memory loss as she kept asking questions.
Abiola, a relative who was with her, said Adiegwu and her two children were in the house when the incident occurred.
She said, “She lived opposite Bethlehem Girls’ College and works at a private school in the community. She was washing clothes at home with her children, David and Favour (who sat beside her), when the incident occurred. Her husband is currently out of the state.
“After the incident, we started to call all our colleagues. We called her but she wasn’t picking up the phone. We all went to the school the following day for roll call to be sure all the staff members were safe. She was the only one missing and she couldn’t be reached. It was at that point we knew all wasn’t well with her. We kept looking for her until we traced her to this hospital.”
Abiola told Saturday PUNCH that David was also badly injured and was still at the hospital while Favour who is just two years old miraculously escaped without any injury and currently with the Nigerian Red Cross Society.
She said, “The mother can’t remember what happened. She keeps asking us questions. I just hope the memory loss won’t be bad.”
LASEMA relocates displaced residents to relief camp
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency has said its relief camp in Igando is open to residents displaced by the Abule-Ado explosion. This followed a N2bn relief fund set up by the state Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
LASEMA General Manager, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osayintolu, in a situation report on Thursday said rescue teams continued to carry out recovery operations at the incident site.
He said, “An additional body was retrieved today (Thursday) bringing the total number of fatalities to 21. About 468 people were displaced and 100 of them are now in the relief camp. Two persons are still missing. Our help desk remains manned and our personnel are available to manage enquiries and arrange transfer to the LASEMA relief camp for those who need shelter and food. We appeal for calm and urge members of the public to keep away from the scene.”

By Afeez Hanafi