On the morning of Saturday 28 March 2020, a large meteorite crashed in Akure (Nigeria), destroying more than 100 houses and leaving a 21-meter crater on the ground. Experts from the Awbaowo University of Obafemi (Nigeria) subtio denied the local police who initially claimed that a bomb explosion had created the 21-meter crater.
More than 100 buildings, schools and churches were destroyed by the explosion in Akure, the capital of Ondo state, on Saturday morning. The blast that occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning interrupted the lively Akure / Owo road (Eleyowo Village) while many people were said to be injured. Local newspapers also said that the incident that occurred less than a kilometer from Akure airport affected many residents of the Eleyowo community, completely destroying a church and school in the area. People who lived inside church structures were said to have been injured, while some were rescued by people in the community. “
While many attributed it to a bomb explosion, others said it must have been a fragment of meteorite from space that hit the ground with devastating effects. The analysts will be busy in the coming days to dig and take meteorite material from the crater. There is no gas pipeline near an Eleyowo village where an explosion occurred. In fact, the closest major public facility is Akure airport.
Ondo’s state police command confirmed that the explosions in Akure were not a meteorite, but the result of explosives escorted by men from the Nigerian Police Department of Explosive Artifacts (EOD). According to Chief Police Superintendent Femi Joseph, “The expedition was duly escorted by EOD men when their vehicle broke down. They had to move him away from where there were houses.
But the experts disagree with the police explanation. Akure’s “explosion” was the impact of meteorites, NOT explosives, says a professor at Obafemi Awolowo University. The explosion that shocked Akure, the capital of the state of Ondo on Saturday, was caused by a giant space rock known as a meteorite, a team of scientific experts concluded.
Experts led by Adepelumi Adekunle, professor of geophysics and seismic engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University, said that the impact of meteors influenced the location from “a 43 degree angle”.
The explosion also caused a deep crater at the site where the explosion occurred, interrupting the road and preventing vehicles from moving. Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of the state, told reporters that the explosion occurred after a truck carrying explosives in a quarry exploded.
But geophysicist Adekunle said his team’s findings suggest that the explosion was caused by a natural phenomenon, contradicting what the governor said. He added that there was no evidence of a vehicle buried or explosives from the site, and that “strange rocks and foreign metal objects” were found inside the crater.
Prof. Adekunle’s report said:
“My research team carried out a detailed analysis of the impact site. A circular impact crater 21 m in diameter and 7.8 m in depth was found, suggesting a natural phenomenon. “Water has been found leaking from the edges of the crater. A preliminary study was conducted on in situ vibrations, noise, seismicity, water analysis, radioactivity studies, rock and soil research. Our results suggest that the impact of the explosion covers a radius of 1 km from the environment surrounding the crater. No evidence of fire or burning of anything nearby was found. “No evidence of radioactivity has been found inside and around the crater. Field trials indicate the conclusion that an asteroid belt meteorite traveling at high speed from space had an impact on the location at an angle of 43 degrees and created an expulsion in the southwestern part.“
