Three-storey building collapses in Ebonyi

A three-story building, which was under construction at the Nkaliki area of Abakaliki, in the Abakaliki Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, has collapsed.

The materials, used in constructing the building, which were alleged to be sub-standard.

Investigation revealed that no life was lost in the incident, owing to the fact that workers were yet to resume work before the building collapsed.

The Secretary to the State Government, Kenneth Ugbala; Commissioner for Internal Security, Stanley Emegha; Special Assistant to the Governor on Capital Territory, Chinyelu Udoku, and Chairman of Abakaliki Capital Territory Development Board, Dr Uche Onwe were at the scene of the incident, after the collapse.

While the SSG directed the immediate sealing of the site and total demolition of the building, the Commissioner for Internal Security ordered the immediate arrest of the site engineer.

Also, the SA on Capital Territory directed the ACTDB to produce staff that approved the building and all those in charge of monitoring the construction, while the ACTDB Chairman said preliminary investigation revealed the builders used substandard materials, which exposed the building to lots of structural defects.

The governor’s aides said, “The Engineer attached to the building did not do any professional work. The quality of iron rods, the mixture, concreting are not up to standard.

“You can see we have sealed it, there is a lot of compromises even from the foundation.

“Investigation into the incident has been launched. All those found culpable will be arrested and prosecuted.

“The building is going to be demolished today and evacuated. Every building has a town planner, an Engineer, and a professional builder attached but in the course of construction, these people compromised.

“This structure wasn’t approved during my time, but we take responsibility for it because the government is a continuum.

“We will trace the file to know if it was actually approved for three-story and if it followed the stipulated standard. We will make arrests and prosecute them as soon as possible.”