93 unexploded bombs (ordnance) have been found as part of the ongoing ‘Exercise Clean Sweep’ at the Ikeja Military Cantonment in Lagos.
The exercise began on Tuesday, October 10, 2023, with the goal of disinfecting the site of the 2002 bombing at the cantonment.
According to the Army, the recovered bombs ranged in calibre and description.
Colonel Abdulrazaq Kazeem, Director at the Directorate of Explosives Search and Disposal, Nigeria Army Engineers / Coordinator of EXERCISE CLEAN SWEEP, made the disclosure yesterday during his maiden briefing on the exercise’s status.
Despite previous cleaning and disposal efforts at the site, there have been multiple reports of the finding of UXO fragments within and surrounding the bomb blast, greatly to the detriment of the Cantonment’s and environment’s safety and security.
He stated:
“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.”
Lt Col Oluseyi Oladapo Bamikole, the protection Officer, stated that suitable steps 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.”
