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From Jude Chinedu, Enugu
It was around 4:45 pm on June 11, 2025, when a deafening blast tore through the quiet community of Obawole, Iju in Lagos. In a matter of seconds, the sky darkened with thick smoke, and what began as a normal afternoon turned into a nightmare for residents of Oluwatobi Ilori Close.
For Lilian Chinyere Adelabu, a resident at No. 3, Oluwatobi Ilori Close, the moment marked the beginning of unimaginable loss. Her home was directly behind Optimum Energy Filling Station, the source of the explosion. In the fire that followed, everything she and her daughter owned went up in flames.
“The house and my properties were damaged and burnt during the Optimum Filling Station explosion. It resulted in a full-blown destruction of the properties at around 4:45 pm,” she stated in a sworn affidavit filed at the High Court of Lagos State, Ikeja.
She listed her losses in detail. Clothes, shoes, bags, a GOTV decoder, a 12-inch television, a 6 -by-6 bed and mattress, fridge, freezer, HP curtains, ORL ceiling fan, a 2-horsepower Hisense air conditioner, hair accessories, two iPhone 12 phones, a New Age power bank, a seventh generation HP laptop, extra bedsheets, duvet and even her daughter’s secondary school certificate, all were destroyed.
Her home is now a shell. Her daughter has no certificate. Their clothes are gone. “This declaration is now required for record purposes,” she wrote in her affidavit. But behind those words lies a simple truth: she lost everything.
To make her ordeal official, Adelabu proceeded to the Iju Police Station on June 20. There, she presented her affidavit and gave a detailed report of the incident. In Entry No. 270 of the station’s crime diary, the police confirmed her report.
According to the diary extract signed by Inspector Kingsley Unuath, the fire from the filling station engulfed her apartment and destroyed all listed belongings.
The police noted that the entry was made for record and official purposes, and an extract was issued to assist the complainant in seeking redress.
But Adelabu is not alone in her pain. The property in which she resided belonged to Gloria Unazoi, a widow who also suffered from the same explosion.
In a letter dated July 2, 2025, Unazoi’s lawyers, Bodunde Bankole & Co., petitioned the management of the filling station, laying bare a story of warning, negligence, destruction and, now, demand for justice.
In the petition addressed to Hon. Rasheed Olarenwaju Makinde of Optimum Energy Filling Station, the lawyers recalled how they had previously written to him on April 27, 2023, warning about the risk posed by the station’s location and requesting immediate safety measures. But their appeal, they alleged, was ignored.
“You chose to disregard the counsel,” the letter stated. “Perhaps it was considered too gratuitous and not worthy of being dignified with a whimper.”
That decision proved costly. The fire that broke out from the station left behind widespread damage to Unazoi’s property. In the words of her lawyers, the fire caused “extensive damage to the properties of our client with attendant mental trauma and torture.”
Some repair work was done by the filling station after the incident, aluminum roof sheets were replaced, some plumbing fixed, and parts of the upper storey were re-roofed. But the efforts were described as inadequate and poorly executed.
“Your workmen have even abandoned the repair work for some weeks now,” the letter stated, pointing out that the repairs were a mere tip of the iceberg and not reflective of the true damage caused.
Unazoi has engaged a team of her own workers, craftsmen who had previously worked on the house during her husband’s lifetime and who, according to her, could be trusted not to deliver substandard work. The decision came after growing frustration over delays and dissatisfaction with the initial repairs.
Beyond physical damage, the fire has taken an emotional and economic toll on the widow. Her shop, located in the same compound, has remained closed since the incident. Customers have stayed away, afraid for their safety.
“Our client, a struggling widow, has been emotionally traumatized,” the lawyers noted. “Her business place has been under lock and key awaiting your repair, which has been slow in coming.”
They estimated that she had been earning between N20,000 and N30,000 in daily profit before the fire. That income stream ended abruptly on June 11.
Her legal team is now demanding N10 million in compensation for emotional trauma and loss of livelihood. They also warned that unless repair work on the building, its fittings, and fixtures resumes in earnest, and unless the compensation is paid within seven days of receipt of the letter, they would proceed to court for judicial intervention.
Further action may also include a formal report to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the federal agency responsible for regulating petroleum operations.
“Take further notice. The above shall be undertaken without any further recourse to you,” the letter warned.
For now, both Adelabu and Unazoi wait. They wait not just for repairs or money, but for justice.
