By Hotgist9ja News Desk | Breaking News
Saturday morning started like any other in Calabar. People were going about their business along Edibe Edibe Street in Calabar South. Market women were setting up. Motorcycles were moving. Children were playing.
Then a gas plant exploded. And nothing has been the same since.
What began as reports of 30 casualties when Governor Bassey Otu visited the scene on Saturday has now doubled. The Cross River State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk, visited the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital on Sunday and confirmed the grim update — over 60 people are now receiving treatment for burns of varying severity at UCTH's Accident and Emergency Department.
Sixty people. In one explosion. In one street. On one Saturday morning.
And according to at least one resident who spoke to journalists, when she tried to call the fire service during the blaze — nobody picked up.
What Happened At Edibe Edibe — The Full Story
The explosion occurred at a gas plant located along Edibe Edibe Street in Calabar South Local Government Area of Cross River State. According to officials and eyewitness accounts, a gas leakage at the facility triggered the blast, which ripped through the surrounding area with devastating force.
The explosion did not just damage the gas plant itself. It tore through several nearby residential buildings, leaving homes destroyed, property wrecked and dozens of people with burns ranging from minor to severe. The chaos that followed was immediate — screaming, running, burning — a neighbourhood reduced to emergency in seconds.
Governor Bassey Otu visited the scene on Saturday and announced that the state government would cover the medical bills of all victims. At that point, the official count stood at 30. By Sunday afternoon, that number had doubled.
The Commissioner's Visit — What He Found At UCTH
When Cross River State Commissioner for Health Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk arrived at the Accident and Emergency Department of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital on Sunday, what he met was a hospital under severe pressure.
Over 60 burn victims. Beds stretched. Staff pushed. Resources tested.
The commissioner was accompanied by Special Adviser to the Governor on General Duties, Mr. Ekpeyong Akiba. They were received by UCTH Chief Medical Director, Prof. Ikpeme Ikpeme, who briefed them on the condition of victims and the ongoing medical interventions.
Ayuk confirmed the updated figure and announced an immediate measure to ease pressure on the teaching hospital — patients with minor burn injuries would be transferred to the General Hospital in Calabar, freeing up space and resources at UCTH for the more critical cases.
In his own words:
"We arrived at the Accident and Emergency Department of UCTH where about 60 victims of the gas explosion that occurred along Edibe Edibe, Calabar South, are receiving treatment. Those with minor degrees of burns will be moved to General Hospital, Calabar."
— Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk, Cross River State Commissioner for Health
The Statement That Should Shake Every Nigerian
Beyond the casualty figures and the hospital visits, one account from a resident of Edibe Edibe has cut through the official statements and exposed something far more troubling about what happened on Saturday morning.
Mrs. Rosa Asuquo, a resident who witnessed the explosion, told journalists that when the gas plant went up in flames, she immediately tried to call the fire service for help.
Nobody answered.
"I tried calling the fire service, but there was no response," she said. "There was no rescue until the fire went off by itself."
Read that again. The fire went off by itself. Because the fire service did not come.
In a situation where every second matters — where burn injuries deepen with every moment of continued exposure to heat and flame — the absence of emergency responders is not just a logistical failure. It is a question of life and death. And Mrs. Asuquo's account raises the uncomfortable but unavoidable question: how many of the 60 victims now lying in hospital beds sustained worse injuries than they would have if help had arrived on time?
A City With A Gas Problem — This Is Not The First Time
The Calabar explosion did not happen in a vacuum. Cross River State — like many Nigerian states — has a long and poorly addressed history of gas-related incidents, driven by inadequate regulation of fuel and gas retailers, poor enforcement of safety standards and the proliferation of informal gas stations in densely populated residential areas.
Gas plants operating in residential neighbourhoods, without adequate buffer zones, proper safety equipment or trained personnel, are a disaster waiting to happen in cities across Nigeria. The Edibe Edibe explosion is the latest — and most severe — reminder of that reality.
The questions that must now be asked are uncomfortable but necessary. Who licensed this gas plant? What safety inspections were conducted? Were the required buffer distances from residential buildings observed? And if the answers to any of these questions point to failures of regulation and oversight — who is accountable?
Government's Response — What Has Been Promised
Governor Bassey Otu has pledged that the Cross River State Government will cover the medical bills of all victims. Commissioner Ayuk's hospital visit signals that the government is at least visible in its response. The plan to transfer minor cases to the General Hospital shows some level of coordination.
But Nigerians have heard promises of government-funded medical care before. The real test will be whether those bills are actually paid — whether the victims who leave hospital recover to find their financial burden covered, or whether the promises made in the heat of a crisis quietly evaporate as attention moves elsewhere.
For the families of the 60 people now in hospital — that question is not political. It is personal. It is urgent. And it is everything.
What Nigerians Are Saying
News of the explosion and the rising casualty figures spread rapidly across Nigerian social media, triggering a wave of reactions that ranged from grief and sympathy to raw anger at the systems that failed Calabar's residents.
"60 people with burns in hospital and the fire service didn't even respond to calls. What exactly are we paying taxes for in this country?"
— Twitter/X user
"The government will cover medical bills — they always say that. The real question is whether they will actually do it when the cameras are gone."
— Facebook user, Calabar
"My cousin is among those injured. Please pray for everyone at UCTH right now. This was somebody's peaceful Saturday morning."
— Instagram comment
"Gas plants in residential areas all over Nigeria and we are waiting for tragedy before we act. This has happened before. It will happen again unless we fix the regulation."
— Twitter/X user
"The fire service did not respond. This is what happens when public institutions are starved of funding, equipment and accountability. Nigerians are paying with their lives."
— Facebook user, Lagos
What The Experts Are Saying
"The Calabar explosion is a symptom of a much larger crisis in Nigeria's urban safety framework. Gas retail facilities routinely operate in residential areas without adequate safety buffers, fire suppression systems or emergency response protocols. NAFDAC and state regulatory agencies must urgently review the licensing and inspection regime for gas facilities across the country before more lives are lost."
— Public Safety Analyst
"The failure of the fire service to respond to calls during the Calabar explosion is not surprising — it is the predictable outcome of years of underfunding, poor equipment maintenance and weak accountability in Nigeria's emergency services. This is a systemic failure, not an isolated incident. And without structural reform, it will keep happening."
— Emergency Management Expert
Key Facts At A Glance
| Detail | Fact |
| Location | Edibe Edibe Street, Calabar South, Cross River State |
| Cause | Gas leakage at a gas plant |
| Initial casualty figure | 30 (Governor Otu, Saturday) |
| Updated casualty figure | 60+ (Commissioner Ayuk, Sunday) |
| Treatment location | UCTH Accident and Emergency Department |
| Minor cases being transferred to | General Hospital, Calabar |
| Government pledge | Cover all victims' medical bills |
| Fire service response | Did not respond to calls — resident account |
What Happens Next
As of Sunday evening, the immediate priority for Cross River State authorities is managing the 60 victims currently in hospital — ensuring adequate burn treatment, preventing infection and monitoring critical cases. The transfer of minor cases to the General Hospital should ease pressure on UCTH.
Beyond the immediate medical response, the state government faces harder questions about accountability. Will the gas plant operator face regulatory action? Will the fire service failure be investigated? Will the promises of government-funded medical care be honoured in full?
And beyond Cross River — will this explosion finally force a national conversation about the proliferation of gas plants in Nigerian residential areas and the dangerously inadequate state of the country's emergency response infrastructure?
Hotgist9ja will continue to monitor this story and bring you updates as they emerge.
In Pidgin — As Naija People Dey See Am
Naija, this one pain too much.
Saturday morning, people dey go about their normal business for Edibe Edibe, Calabar. Then gas plant explode. Everything scatter. People dey run, dey scream, dey burn.
One woman call fire service. Nobody pick. The fire burn until e finish by itself. And now 60 people dey hospital with burns.
Governor talk say government go pay the hospital bills. We don hear that one before. The real test na when the cameras leave and the bills remain.
But the thing wey do Nigerians pass everything na the fire service story. 60 people dey burn. Woman dey call for help. Phone dey ring. Nobody answer.
This na the Nigeria we dey live inside. And until we demand better — until we hold people accountable — this kind thing go keep happening. In Calabar today. Somewhere else tomorrow.
Our prayers dey with every victim and every family wey this explosion don affect. 🦅🇳🇬
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Sources: Punch, TheCable, PM News, Nigeria Info FM, Ripples Nigeria, NAN, Cross River State Government