Aminu Idris, an occupant of the collapsed building, said he had just returned from work to rest when the building fell on him and his brothers.
ByChiamaka Okafor August 24, 2023 Reading Time: 2 mins read
A two-storey building collapsed Wednesday night in Abuja leaving at least two people dead, residents told newsmen.
Located on Lagos Street, Garki, one of the districts in the Nigerian capital, the dual-purpose building (residential and commercial) collapsed at about 11 p.m.
Speaking to this newspaper, Aminu Idriss, an occupant of the collapsed building, said he had just returned from work to rest when the building fell on him and his brothers.
“… as we enter inside, we no come know wetin happen, the thing come hit us for our body,” he narrated in pidgin English. “Our brothers have died and many people were injured.”
Relevant stakeholders including the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) later arrived on the scene to evacuate rubbles and check if anyone was trapped.
The Director General of FEMA, Abbas Idris, confirmed the number of casualties: “… we were able to rescue 37 people out of which two were fatally injured and we have moved them to various hospitals within the city.”
He noted that the rescue mission started on Wednesday night and they continued to search until they got to ground zero to make sure no one was left behind.
On the number of people living in the building, Mr Idriss said “There are no statistics. We tried to get the number of people living here but we could not ascertain and that is why we are getting to ground zero.”
Charity Yusuf, who lives across the street where the building collapsed, told this newspaper that occupants had been advised to vacate the building but did not.
“The building was already collapsing and notice had already been given asking everyone to vacate, they did not. This just happened,” she said.
The new Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, arrived at the building Thursday morning and ordered the arrest of the owner of the building. He promised that the Abuja administration would pay the hospital bills of those injured.
Alluding to his first speech on assuming office as FCT minister, he said “This is what we are talking about; people just built houses without due diligence to minimum standards.”
Mr Wike in his first speech said he will demolish all illegal buildings and structures in the territory as part of efforts to restore the Abuja Master Plan.
Several occupants of the collapsed building continued to loiter around the excavation scene hoping to retrieve whatever was left of their property trapped in the building.