The governor of Nigeria's northern Kaduna state has tweeted photos of the destruction caused by the gas explosion which killed six people - including the head of the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) - in Kaduna city on Saturday.

Social embed from twitter

  Simon Mallam was appointed head of the NAEC in March 2017. Until his death, he was also a member Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Colleagues have said he was committed to Nigeria’s peaceful nuclear development. The professor led Nigeria to sign deals with the Russian energy company, Rosatom, building on previous agreements to construct and operate two nuclear power plants in Nigeria. While the status of these power plants remains unclear, Mallam also worked to improve cooperation with China, leading Nigeria to sign a memorandum of understanding on cooperation with China on nuclear technology.