The current trend of building collapse in Nigeria is becoming increasingly worrisome.
A fresh collapse happened at Phase IV road in Jikwoyi, Abuja on Friday, October 03, 2014 at a club house being transformed from a bungalow to a storey building.
Scores of people including the customers and labourers were trapped under the rubble.
Fortunately the rescue workers were able to pull out about four persons alive within few hours of the sad occurrence.
It was learnt that they were conveyed to nearby hospitals via ambulances. However, it was alleged that voices were heard under the debris calling out for help both in loud voices and through phone calls.
According to reports by Daily Trust, two female workers of the club were seen wailing and showing rescue officials where people were trapped in the collapsed site. One of them put the figure of those still trapped as 13.
Sources disclosed that the building known as Mimshack Arena’ was owned by a police official simply identified as Corporal Joseph.
Also, another resident of the area of the building collapse, Emeka Ikechuckwu, revealed that some customers were drinking at the bar, while construction work was going on when the entire building suddenly packed up.
However, one of the members of the rescue team complained that getting their vehicles into the site of the event was very difficult because there was not enough spacing between buildings in that area.
All attempts to speak with the coordinator of the Abuja operations office of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ishaya Chonoko, flopped as calls put across to his phone were all ignored. Although it was learnt afterwards that he was controlling rescue operations at the scene of the building collapse.
The information officer of NEMA, Manzo Eziekiel while speaking to newsmen alleged that the building collapsed as a result of the additional floors in a bid to make it a storey building.
