Abuja Building Collapses, Wike Orders Arrests Of Owner

• 37 victims receiving treatment at various hospitals
• Minister harps on resettlement of indigenes

BY EDMOND ODOK – Hours after a two-storey building collapsed in Abuja on Wednesday night, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike has ordered the immediate identification and arrest of the property owner, with directives that no further development must take place within the affected area.

The building, located at the popular Lagos Crescent, Garki Village in the Garki District of the nation’s capital, is said to be housing about 39 residents and early reports indicated that two people have been certified dead with 37 others rescued and rushed to various hospitals within the city for immediate medical attention.

Wike, who visited the incident scene, said the government will take over the area and ensure that no further development is carried out, adding; “I want all the stakeholders here to please work with the government in the interest of everybody.”

The Minister, while noting that the original residents of the area were designated for resettlement, wondered why the FCT Administration could not carry out such resettlement over the years, lamenting that “It is unfortunate that we woke this morning to the very disturbing news of this building collapse. It is not what we contemplated.

In appreciating the rescue efforts, the FCT Minister said;”Let me thank the agencies particularly NEMA and FEMA that have supported us to rescue not less than 37 lives. It is unfortunate that we lost two lives. I will appeal to the Permanent Secretary to make sure that funds are raised to pay the hospital bills of those who were rescued so that we do not lose any more people, and this should be done immediately.

“Secondly, these are the things we have been saying, nobody knows whose turn it will be, therefore, when the government says it will take actions in areas we believe there are illegal developments or buildings that do not comply with the standard codes, it is not as if anybody has any personal vendetta but for me, it is for us to do the right thing.

“I don’t know why it has taken so long that the FCTA has not resettled them and so we will take immediate action to see that the indigenes of these places are resettled and then the government has to plan out this place.

“When the government says take building plan, it is not to suffer anybody but to make sure that everyone is protected. Cities are planned to forestall these kinds of occurrences. Imagine buildings without approval. I will ask that we identify and arrest the owner of this property. It is very important.

“Government will, of course, take over this area and make sure no further development is carried out here. I want all the stakeholders here to please work with the government in the interest of everybody. No one has come here to say I like A, I don’t like B. I know sometimes the government’s decisions may not be too comfortable with the people, but in the long run, it is in the interest of the people.

“Now we are all gathered here and none of us is happy we are here. These are the things we are trying to forestall. Again I sympathize with those who lost dear lives, while the government will pick up the bills of all those in the hospital. We will also support the rescue efforts and ensure that they get to the last level and rescue everyone still trapped in the rubble”.

Identified by some residents as one of the first-storey buildings erected in the area, eyewitness accounts said the property gave way at about 11 pm on Wednesday amid a heavy downpour.

It was gathered that rescue operations and efforts at evacuating the people were initially very slow and purely manual over the night as there was no immediate access to an excavator.

Also speaking about the collapsed building, the Director General of FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Dr Abbas Idriss explained that 37 persons were rescued at the scene of the collapsed structure and the victims were evacuated to various medical facilities in Abuja.

According to him; “Thirty-seven persons have so far been rescued and evacuated to hospital, others reportedly still trapped. The rescue team and others are on ground. Rescue operations are on but slowly due to ongoing rain. They are making frantic efforts at getting an excavator to remove people from the rubble”.

He lauded the efforts by all stakeholders working hard manually to rescue trapped persons, including members of the community, even as information gathered showed that many of the victims were taken to different hospitals including the Asokoro General Hospital, National Hospital, Garki Hospital, General Hospital, Nyanya, Alliance hospital and Zenith hospital in the City Centre

For the Director in charge of Development Control, Mukhtar Galadima, the collapsed building had no planning approval because the area is meant for resettlement.

Galadima stated thus; “The building is located within the Garki indigenous settlement. The building had two suspended floors, one used for commercial activities while the other floors were used as residential accommodation. The building caved in yesterday (Wednesday) and 37 persons were rescued

“The status of the place is that it is not a planned area so the development had no planning approval. In fact, the area is meant for resettlement from here to Apo resettlement town”