Iyabo Solagbade, a local trader in Ajah, was spotted on Wednesday exchanging heated debate with security operatives at the Lagos General Hospital, Odan.
Donning a green face mask with wearied eyes that can do with a 10-minutes nap, she struggled to force her way into the emergency wards of the facility.
Her agitation was understandable. She has not set eyes on her older sibling, Nurudeen Solagbade, who was one of the nine survivors brought to the hospital for three days.
When WuzupNigeria correspondent accosted her, she struggled to blurt out her frustration in one breath.
She disclosed that her 40-year-old brother was one of the victims of the ill-fated 21-storey building on Gerard Road in Ikoyi.
Rescued Ikoyi building survivor lives alone in Ibafo
According to her, the construction worker who lives in Ibafo has no wife and kid.
“My brother is not a stranger in that 360 project site. He has been working at that particular building for a while now. I knew because he always intimated me whenever he is working at any site on the Island.
“I remember him calling me on that fateful day. But midway through our conversation, I heard a thud at the background. It sounded like a defeating claps of thunder. This was followed by screams and echoes,” she said.
Frantic search for Ikoyi building survivor in Lagos health facilities
Iyabo disclosed that after the screams and chaos that followed the defeaning bang, the line at the other end went dead.
The trader said that she went into panic mode after trying repeatedly to reach his brother but his phone was unreachable.
“I only got to know the next morning when newspapers and people were talking about it that mhy brother was trapped in the debris of the building with others
“I was also made to understand that that same day he was rescued and brought to the hospital. In my confused state, I didn’t even took my time to find out the exact emergency ward they were talking about. I ran all the way to LASUTH in Ikeja where I was redirected to General Hospital in Lagos Island.
“I couldn’t make it to the hospital as a result of heavy gridlock from Maryland to Oabalende and had to seek a temporary shelter. You won’t believe where I slept. I was forced to sleep in an open space with my a couple of people under the bridge at Obalende bus stop. The truth is that I cannot afford to return to Badore in Ajah where I live and I can’t afford the guest rooms they have around here,” she bemoaned.
Survivor of Ikoyi building disaster diagnosed with Pelvic injury
Pointing to the entrance of the emergency wards, she lamented that she and other worried relatives have been hanging the premises around all day.
“These security officers won’t allow us to see the patients. The only excuse they gave us is that we can’t be allowed him because they are currently undergoing treatment,” she said.
A shocker, however, awaits Iyabo who is yet to know the current status of her brother who has been discovered to have a pelvic injury from the Ikoyi disaster.
Nurudeen was one of the six remaining survivors on admission, whose name was reeled at the scene by the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Wednesday.
