By Tony Adibe
A 4-storey building still under construction, said to be a multi-million Naira hotel along Ogbaru Street/Alvan Ikokwu Street, Independence Layout, Enugu, reportedly collapsed in the early hours of Sunday.
NewsBits gathered that one of the workers at the site died at the spot while five others were rescued alive. Two people among the rescued were unconscious and were rushed to hospital for medical attention.
Our reporter, who visited the scene of the incident, gathered that a building that was built there in the past collapsed, thereby necessitating a new one, which also collapsed like the first. But it was not confirmed whether the first building that collapsed in the past was also a 4-storey, one-storey, or three-storey house, or the year the first unfortunate incident occurred.
However, those trapped in the rubble of the latest collapse were mostly workers at the site, according to sources. The Enugu State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Daniel Ndukwe, didn’t answer his calls to comment on the incident, but an eyewitness said that the Area Commander came to the scene earlier.
However, the Chairman of the Enugu Capital Development Authority, Barr. Uche Anya had also visited the scene, and his office is helping in the rescue and removal of debris to see if other people were still trapped.
Briefing journalists at the site, Anya said it was a case of recalcitrant developers who failed to comply with building codes. Anya said ECTDA had taken regulatory action by sealing the site, which was approved in 2021.
He said: “This property collapsed in the early hours of the morning. We arrived here around 6:00am. When we arrived, we met one of the security men, who said that six people slept in the unfinished property, but one of them was not around when the incident occurred.
“So, the government emergency services arrived, and we started rescue operations. Four people, right now, are in the hospital receiving treatment as we speak. I believe there could be one more person in there, and that is why you see all this rescue effort ongoing.
“Meanwhile, this property was approved in 2021 before the advent of this administration. But usually, we have a habit of stocktaking, checking on every construction at every stage. When I personally led the team that inspected here, we found out that there were serious integrity issues and non-compliance with their 2021 approval.
“I personally issued the first ‘stop work order,’ which, due to the violation, resulted in our sealing the place over the last six months. So, I think within the last 30, 40 days, the representative of the owner, whom they say lives abroad, has been interfacing with us to remedy the situation. This is the process that we are still trying to interface on, and it came down.
“By the way, I have handed the representative to the police, not necessarily for detention, but to help with the investigation. But this is really a very unfortunate situation.”
Also speaking to reporters, the Director, Enugu State Fire Service, Engr. Okwudiri Oha, lauded the swift response by the Red Cross, Enugu State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), ECTDA, the Enugu State Ambulance Services, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the mobilisation of adequate rescue equipment such as bulldozers and excavators, which ensured the rescue of four persons.
“As a rescue officer, what we did was to ask the security man how many people were here. He said that there were supposed to be six. One person had left before it happened. So, we were able, at that initial time, to rescue four people. Out of the four, two sustained minor injuries, and they were all rushed to a health facility for proper checks.
“Then, as you have seen, we have been working. The last person we just recovered was the fifth person. It is when you get to a health facility that you know whether he is still alive.”
But NEMA Information Officer in Enugu, Mr. Ezeani Nnanyelugo, who confirmed the numbers, said that the situation could have been worse but for the earlier sealing of the site by the state government.
“When we came to the scene of the incident, we found out that there were a total of six persons who were supposed to be on the site. One person was not on the site at the time of the incident, while the four others were rescued and taken to the hospital and have been stabilised.
He said: “Just not quite long ago, one body was recovered and it was taken to the hospital to confirm whether he was dead or alive.” Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary, SEMA, Chinasa Mbah, said that whereas only five persons were said to be present at the time of the incident, the entire wreckage would be cut through and excavated to ensure that no one was left behind.
She said: “We are going to excavate everything because you can see the machines that the government brought. We will excavate everything to ensure no survivor or body is left.”
NewsBits reports that there has been an increasing rate of building collapses across Nigeria, with the authorities probably not knowing how to reduce or stop the sad developments.
