The Nigerian Army has reported that it successfully retrieved 93 unexploded ordnances, commonly known as bombs, from the Ikeja Military Cantonment in Lagos as part of its ongoing operation named ‘Exercise Clean Sweep.’
This operation, initiated on Tuesday, aims to clear the area after a bomb blast occurred at the cantonment in 2002. The Army stated that the recovered bombs varied in calibers and descriptions.
Colonel Abdulrazaq Kazeem, the Director at the Directorate of Explosives Search and Disposal for the Nigerian Army Engineers and Coordinator of ‘EXERCISE CLEAN SWEEP,’ shared this information during his initial briefing on the exercise’s progress on Thursday.
He said, “We have so far recovered 93 ordnances of different calibers. So at 93, we are not yet up to the explosives, we measure it in kilograms, so once we get to that particular explosive limit, then we’ll move to the range”, he said.
Despite past clearance and disposal exercises at the site, there have been several reports of the discovery of remnants of UXOs within and around the vicinity of the bomb blast much to the detriment of the safety and security of the inhabitants of the Cantonment and environment.
On his part, the Safety Officer, Lt Col Oluseyi Oladapo Bamikole said necessary measures had been put in place “for the safety of personnel as they have made adequate equipment available including demarcations and trained personnel to identify UXO before recovery from the site.”
Also speaking, Lieutenant Colonel Oluseyi Bamikole, the safety officer, highlighted that adequate equipment, demarcations, and trained personnel have been made available to identify UXOs before recovery, emphasizing the meticulous approach taken to ensure the safety of all those participating in this critical mission.
