Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has said the country has been “robbed of a great scientist” after the death of the head of the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission in a gas explosion. Simon Mallam was in a barber shop in the northern city of Kaduna when the explosion happened, killing him, his son and several other people. Mallam’s death came at a time when he was “acutely needed” to help develop science and technology for the nation’s development, Mr Buhari is quoted by his spokesman as saying in a series of tweets. The explosion occurred when customers gathered at a butane gas shop to fill up their gas cylinders – which many Nigerians use for cooking. A number of other shops were burnt down following the blast.
SOURCE: BBC