Movie Director Ekere Nkanga told yesterday of how he survived in the collapsed structure, saying God raised him from among rumbled bodies.
Nkanga, who spoke from the Ibom Specialist Hospital in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, said: “Shortly after the governor and the exco members and the bishops took their seats, we were about going into the main event when we heard kom! From the moment we heard the sound and the moment we saw bodies wasn’t up to 10seconds.
”As a movie actor, I can assume many roles – a gangster, a pastor, a dead man etc. But this was beyond comprehension. I personally saw death coming from over 40 to 50 feet. By the time it came down to 20 or 15 feet, I noticed that people from the safe areas were running to the centre. Where I was sitting was where the rods were actually meeting.
”Something told me that if you try to run from this area, you are going to be trapped, so I was trying to dodge and people were pushing me out. God made me dive under humans. A few seconds later, when I was trying to get up, the body of a man cut into two from the belly was on me.
”There were corpses on me. From the rumbled of parts of corpses, God raised me up. I looked at the man on my left he was like a vegetable, so I picked him up and gave him to the next man, looked out for my brother I couldn’t find him. I was able to conquer panic.
”So, I later found my phone. I called the Chairman, Uyo Local Government Area to mobilise a rescue team to the venue and the first point of medical attention. People were crying seeing their relatives dead.
”I had to start beating people; ‘this man is dead! This man is trapped, so we had to try and save those who were trapped. We were able to free about five to eight people before I started reaching out to meet my brother.
”I even tried to access the cranes that were there to see if I could help. Sincerely, I did not know I had a situation because I didn’t have a direct impact with the rod. The impact of diving must have been responsible for my broken neck.
”It was in the evening when I felt a slight pain around my neck that I had to come to the hospital for x-ray. By the time I came back for the result, I could no longer turn my neck so I was told I needed a neck collar and also needed to be admitted.”