Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has said Nigeria as has been “robbed of a great scientist” after the death of the head of Nigeria’s Atomic Energy Commission in a gas explosion, his spokesman said.
Garba Shehu, the spokesman to the president, passed on the tribute to Simon Mallam in a series of tweets.
Mr Mallam was killed in a butane gas explosion in the northern city of Kaduna on Saturday.
He was was among six people who died in the incident in a busy area of the city.
The police said several other people were injured and rushed to a hospital.
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.
A spokesperson for Nigeria’s Atomic Energy Commission told the BBC Mr Mallam was caught up in the explosion while he was getting a haircut at a nearby barber shop.
It’s not clear what caused the accident but reports suggest a gas cylinder began to leak just before the explosion.
The deputy governor of Kaduna also tweeted that people were paying their condolences on Sunday.
Millions of Nigerians rely on butane gas to cook meals as electricity supply is grossly inadequate in the country, reports the BBC’s Ishaq Khalid.
But poor safety measures and little government regulation- often lead to deadly accidents.