Kenneth Afor
David Olabanji, a businessman who sells Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol and diesel on Saturday, August 20, lost his wife, Rhoda, and his two children, during an explosion at his shop, adjacent to a popular truck yard known as Dantata in Satellite Town, Lagos State.
The Dantata yard is located along the abandoned Fin-Niger to Alakija road which has been taken over by petroleum tankers for nearly a decade since the sighting of oil depot where tankers come in to lift petroleum products mostly PMS, gas and diesel.
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According to reports, David, who had been dealing in the adulteration of petroleum products, among others, was at his shop with his family when the explosion occurred.
In a bid to rescue their children who were sleeping in the shop, David’s wife reportedly ran inside the shop but unfortunately, the wife and two children were burnt to death by the fire that razed the shop.
Although, reason for the explosion was not stated, but during a visit by our reporter to the scene on Wednesday, a panel beater whose shop is right next to David’s, said that the wife was cooking outside the shop when the explosion occurred, it is believed that the naked fire which was a few steps from the shop must have triggered the explosion.
The panel beater said, “Pastor’s wife was outside cooking when suddenly we heard a noise and before we knew what was going on fire started coming out from his shop where the two children were in sleeping.
“The wife went in thinking she could bring them out but unfortunately for her she was burnt with the children. Pastor who was a few metres from his shop ran from where he was to make an attempt to rescue his family but he couldn’t.”
The panel beater said that David sustained severe burns and was rushed to a hospital.
According to him, David’s wife and children came to visit him from Ibadan, Oyo State.
When asked the whereabouts of David and the hospital he was taken to for treatment he said he was not aware and has not heard from him since the incident occurred.
Another source, a block molder, said David must have been taken to his family in Oyo State.
However, Neptune Prime’s attempts to verify the information had not yield result at the time of filing this report.
David’s shop is one of the many shops in the area where sales of petroleum products are going on a daily basis despite the presence of four petrol stations in the area.
