Ẹnitan Kẹhinde

Two persons were confirmed dead on Wednesday and nine injured when a building collapsed in Dutse Alhaji area of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The development was confirmed by the spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, Yushau Shuaibu.
ore victims are still trapped under the debris of the collapsed two-storey building located at Ademola Awosika Road, Dutse Alhaji District in Abuja, as rescue operation continues.
The rescue operation, which began at about 7:30 am, continued till 2 p.m., the time of filing this report. By then, the number of deceased persons had increased to three.

Workers of SCC and Dantata and Sawoe construction companies are having a hard time removing the debris.

An eyewitness, Babangida Adamu, told Daily Times that the building, which was under construction, collapsed around 3 a.m. on Wednesday.

"About 20 to 25 people sleep in the uncompleted building and my brother, Abdulsalam Abdulkarem, is one of the dead victims," he said.

The FCT Fire Service's Assistant Controller in-charge-of Operation, Opetunsi Julius, said though he could not tell the exact time the building collapsed, "we received a call at 6:55am and I immediately mobilised my men from Kubwa office while our officers from the headquarters complemented the effort."

He said eleven people had so far been rescued, with four of them fatally injured.

"However, the rescue operation still continues," he said.

NEMA's Deputy Director, Search and Rescue, Vincent Owan, said it was not the responsibility of the agency to probe into the cause of the collapse.

"What we do is to coordinate other stakeholders to ensure that we carry out our statutory obligation," he responded.

On the rescue effort, he said, "We have rescued 9 people who are currently at Kubwa Hospital though some have been discharged and three so far have been confirmed dead by our medical doctor."

Owan said though NEMA was not the first responder agency to the scene, "when we got the call from our emergency call-centre, we dispatched our officers immediately."

The Assistant Director, Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Eng. Mayas Adoyi, assured that COREN would get to the root of the matter.

On why the building collapsed, he said the construction method could be faulty, the materials could be sub-standard and the design could be wrong, among other factors.

"Our appeal to the general public and developers is: do not embark on any construction project without a registered engineer. You must always insist on engaging professionals," he said.

-The Punch & Daily Times