A two-storey building under construction collapsed and led to the death of a middle-aged man identified as Udeme in the Egbelu Mgbaraja area of Ogbogoro Community in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State.
This incident occurred on Monday afternoon, barely a week after a similar collapse of a three-storey building in Iriebe within the same local government area. Fortunately, no lives were lost in the previous incident.
An eyewitness, Mr. Jonathan Obey, detailing the event, noted that the building caved in around 2 p.m. while contractors were working on the second floor.
The collapse reportedly claimed the life of one worker, while another narrowly escaped with severe injuries.
Obey suggested that the tragedy might have been caused by deliberate construction infractions on the part of the property developer, raising concerns over potential negligence in building standards.
“It’s a building collapse; as we speak, one person is trapped right inside the rubble. When we first came, we tried to rescue the person but couldn’t. When we did our investigation, we discovered they used substandard materials to execute the project. We also found out that the foundation was 3 feet for a 2-storey building, which was wrong.
“We also found out that some of the rods used by the builders were of low quality; the decking itself was not chained; there was no center beam; it was supposed to have a centre beam and a pillar in the middle, but it doesn’t have that. They did not use enough cement in casting the first decking,“ the eyewitness stated.
In the meantime, the Rivers State Government has sealed the premises of the collapsed building and declared the property developer, Vincent Nwoye, wanted over the tragic incident.
The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Rt. Hon. Evans Bipi, during an on-the-spot inspection of the collapsed building, accused the developer of gross negligence and default of the extant building laws and regulations of Rivers State.
He cited the failure by the property developer to obtain a government-approved building plan and the use of substandard materials as the cause of the building collapse and avoidable death.
He said, “We have repeatedly warned that if you are caught building without a government-approved building plan, you will certainly face the penalty.
The government has sealed this property in question and declared the owner wanted because a life has been lost; we need to question him to know why he chose to use substandard materials to execute the project and why he decided to use a 12mm rod for a 2-storey building.
“It would interest the public to know that even the property does not have government approval; it is something the government will not take lightly; we will use this developer as a scapegoat for others to learn.”
