The Inaugural sitting/ hearing by the Judicial Panel of inquiry on the collapsed 7-storey building in the Government Reserved Area(GRA) of Rivers state has been scheduled for December 27.
A 7-storey building under construction suspected to be seven-star hotel project collapsed and trapped hundreds of workers on the construction site last month, killing over 20 of them.
Governor Nyesom Wike set up an Judicial Panel of inquiry to be chaired by a High Court Judge, Justice Adolphus Enebeli to investigate into the immediate and remote cause of the collapse and make recommendations to the government.
A statement in Port Harcourt, the state capital, by Justice Enebeli and the secretary of the team, Egerton Madume, explained the panelists will begin hearing into the matter, on Thursday, at the premises of the state High court.
No fewer than over 40 witnesses have been invited to appear before the Panel, including the some of the Governor’s aides, officials of the state ministry of land and other relevant agencies, formers permanent secretaries and officials of the relevant ministries and agencies, the owner of the collapsed structure, Joseph Francis Alagoa, contractors, site Engineer, survivors among others are expected to be witnesses during the sitting.
Other relevant construction bodies, including the Society of Engineers, Nigerian Institute of Town Planners Architects and other relevant bodies who submitted memo to the commission will also appear to make their submissions.
The team of panelists said the invitation before the members of the commission “is without prejudice to or not alternative to the service of summons or issuance of warrant of arrest against the above listed persons and provided under section 7 and 8(1) of the commission of inquiry law cap 2, Laws of Rivers State in the event of disobedience or failure to answer to the summon.”
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