An explosion at the home of Abubakar Musa, a judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, has killed three persons.
The victims, a welder and his two apprentices were working on a leaking diesel container at the residence in Kubwa, a satellite town in Abuja, when the tragic incident occurred on Thursday.
The welder, who was identified as Salihu Abubakar and the apprentices whose names could not be ascertained at the time of filing this report, died instantly from the explosion.
Their remains were evacuated to the mortuary by officers from Galadima Police Station near Gwarimpa Estate, where the matter was reported.
A witness, who did not want his name mentioned, said the welders started the work the previous day but could not complete it due to a lack of power supply.
“The welder and his boys came here yesterday to work because they have a place around the estate. But they couldn’t finish because there was no light.
“This morning, they came to do it but the security man said he warned them against working on a container of diesel that has diesel in it, but they did not listen to him. He said he left them even though he is in charge of the house’s security because he could not risk his life,” they narrated.
The judge, Mr Musa said that he was not at the scene when the incident occurred.
He expressed deep regret over the incident.
“I gave this job to a professional who has been working on my gate. This was not the first time. I told him that the leaking container contained some diesel, but he said he could do it.
“On my way to work this morning, I had a second thought about the job to stop them, but due to so many activities in my head, I forgot about it.
“But my security guard said that he told them that there was diesel inside the container and it wouldn’t be possible for them to weld the metal container without evacuating the diesel. But they refused to heed him, which made him leave them. He (the security guard) said that he refused to stay close to them.”
Mr Musa said the two apprentices started the work before they were joined by their master shortly before the explosion.
“He was not there at the beginning, but he rushed to the house to stop his two boys when the explosion occurred that killed the three of them,” he said.
However, tensions arose when one of the victim’s brothers accused the judge of negligence. He said the deceased left behind eight young children.
Reached out to the acting chairperson of Efab Metropolis Estate Residents Association, Ibrahim Garba, for comments, but he declined to speak.
The facility manager of the estate, Obiora Ulasi, also declined to comment.
Police speak
The estate police said the matter had been transferred to the Galadima police station but officers at the station refused to speak with this newspaper.
However, the FCT Public Relations Officer, Josephine Adeh, confirmed that three persons died in the incident.
“There was a fire incident and we went there to check and provide security. They employed the services of a welder to fix a gas tank. The judge told us that the tank was leaking and he called them to weld it,” she said.