- The Army reported that the retrieved bombs varied in calibres and descriptions
In the ongoing ‘Exercise Clean Sweep’ at the Ikeja Military Cantonment, Lagos, a total of ninety-three unexploded bombs (ordnance) have been successfully recovered.
This exercise, initiated on Tuesday, October 10, 2023, aims to decontaminate the focal point of the 2002 bomb blast within the cantonment.
The Army reported that the retrieved bombs varied in calibres and descriptions. Colonel Abdulrazaq Kazeem, the Director at the Directorate of Explosives Search and Disposal, Nigeria Army Engineers, and Coordinator of EXERCISE CLEAN SWEEP, disclosed this during his first briefing on the exercise update, stating, “So far, a total of 93 unexploded ordnance have been recovered from the site.”
Despite previous clearance and disposal efforts at the site, remnants of unexploded ordnance (UXOs) have been persistently found in and around the blast area, posing a significant risk to the safety and security of the Cantonment’s inhabitants and the surrounding environment.
“The moment we reach maximum limits of explosives within our holding area, such ordinances will be moved to the range. If we get to the explosive limits today, I will move to the range today. We would not exceed a kilogramm above the explosive limits because it is measured in kilogramme. We wouldn’t cross that line. At 93, we have not yet reached the limits,” he reiterated.
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.”