No fewer than three persons have been confirmed dead and scores of others sustaining varying degrees of injuries when a two-storey building under construction suddenly collapsed in Ngbodo Community, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
As gathered, the affected building under construction caved-in on three workers engaged by the project contractor for the buildings in the state.
The Rivers Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, Michael Ogar, who led personnel of the Corps on a search and rescue operation, attributed the incident to the use of substandard materials in the construction of the two-storey building.
According to a statement by the Public Relations Officer of the Command, Olufemi Ayodele, preliminary reports revealed that the rods, pillars, and blocks used in the construction of the two-storey building were far from the required specifications.
“It is high time Nigerians began to take responsibility for their actions especially when the life of humans are involved, the collapse of the two (2) Storey building at Aluu in Ikwerre Local Government Area could have actually been avoided if standardized materials and rights specifications were used.
“Owners of buildings and landlords are hereby advised to be wary of desperate and quack building contractors who care only about their pockets and not the lives of innocent people.”
He said after a joint rescue operation by the NSCDC, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), other security agencies, and the local government authorities, the scene of the collapsed building has been cordoned off and sealed to prevent further disaster.
The statement added that the NSCDC Rivers State Command Crisis Management Department will not relent in carrying out sensitization and awareness programs to warn the public of imminent dangers and precautionary measures needed to avert both man made and natural disasters in our environment because prevention is better than cure.
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