The church building of the Reigners Bible Church, located along Uyo Village Road, has collapsed in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, with many feared dead.
According to eyewitnesses, the building was filled to capacity on Saturday, December 10, 2016 as a ceremony ordaining its pastor and founder, Akan Weeks, as a Bishop, was being held.
The tragic incident occurred at about 1.30pm.
“Pastor Akan Weeks was being consecrated today so the programme was holding inside the church when suddenly, the whole building collapsed,” one witness told journalist.
The witness said the church was being renovated and upgraded because of the expected high number of guests.
“Many people are buried under the debris as emergency workers continue rescue exercise,” he said.
Governor Udom Emmanuel was expected to attend the occasion, but, sources said he was not at the church when it collapsed.
Shortly after the incident, the deputy governor, Moses Ekpo, spoke to The Trent from Cameroon saying that he had spoken with the governor and confirmed that he was not injured.
“The governor has gone to the scene and is presently there helping with the rescue,” a journalist on the scene said.
“Some commissioners were injured as they had gone ahead of the governor to the service,” another journalist told The Trent.
Our sources said many victims have been taken to various hospitals and mortuaries in the town.
A source at one of the hospitals, Premier Hospital, said many of the injured were taken there and were receiving medical attention.
Mrs. Cordelia Nwawe, the spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Command in Akwa Ibom, who sounded emotional when contacted by phone, said she could not speak on the matter immediately.
“You need to be here to witness it, there is so much confusion,” she simply said.
Below are photos, exclusively obtained by The Trent, from the scene of the building collapse.
