On January 27, 2002 (December 15, 2001 in the lunar calendar), 2000 people were killed in a big explosion in Lagos, the capital of Nigeria. Houses destroyed in the bombing of the barracks in Lagos, Nigeria on January 27, 2002. On January 29, 2002, Nigerian state television published a statement by Nigerian President Obasanjo, declaring the big explosion at the Ikoga barracks in Lagos on the 27th as a "national disaster", and flags were flown at half-mast across the country to pay tribute to the victims. Obasanjo said in the statement that the explosion caused huge losses to people's lives and property. As president, he expressed deep sorrow. He said that the top priority now is to find the missing people of the Ikoga barracks explosion, provide necessary assistance such as relief food to the victims, and at the same time issue pensions to the families of the victims to stabilize the emotions of the residents. Obasanjo called on relevant parties to thoroughly investigate the cause of the explosion as soon as possible. He said that the government has set up a special investigation committee to coordinate the investigation work of the military and the local government in order to release the truth as soon as possible. A large explosion occurred in the arsenal of the Ikoga barracks on the 27th of this month, causing a large number of casualties, many of whom drowned in two canals near the barracks while fleeing the scene of the explosion. According to the local official newspaper "Daily Times" on the 29th, rescuers have recovered 2,000 bodies from the canals. The bodies of the dead were mostly children who were recovered from the two canals near the Ikoga barracks where the explosion occurred. The report said that most of these people were drowned in the river by panicked crowds after the explosion. The explosion also damaged a large number of houses, thousands of homeless people waiting for relief in the open field of the military camp. Nigerian President Obasanjo visited the scene of the accident on the 28th. After the explosion, the Nigerian government provided emergency assistance to the victims and placed them in the police academy near the military camp or in the surrounding police stations and apartments. It is reported that the police academy alone has taken in more than 20,000 people. The rescue work is still continuing. The local media have three theories about the cause of the explosion: first, the market serving the military families in the military camp caught fire, which affected the arsenal, resulting in a big explosion; second, the ammunition was naturally detonated due to the long-term stockpile and the high temperature in the dry season in Lagos; third, the gas station near the military camp caught fire, and the scattered sparks ignited the ammunition in the arsenal, causing a series of explosions. Lagos State Governor Tinubu made a speech on TV on the 27th, ruling out the possibility of human sabotage, saying the big explosion was an accident.