The Nation Newspaper

Tag: collapses

  • Five die in Lagos building collapse

    Five die in Lagos building collapse

    Five persons, including a 13-year-old girl, died yesterday in Lagos, when a two-storey building collapsed.

    House 30/32, Ishaga Road, Ikate, Surulere, was said to have collapsed around 10am, during an early morning downpour.

    Emergency management officials, including the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Lagos Fire Service, National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) and policemen were making frantic efforts to rescue people believed to be trapped in the rubble.

    Eyewitnesses told The Nation that no fewer than 10 people were injured. Four were rushed to an undisclosed hospital.

    It was learnt that the victims included some passersby, who had taken refuge from the rain in the uncompleted building.

    Among them, The Nation learnt, was the teenager, who was said to be a bread seller. A tailor, whose machine was brought out, was trapped in the rubble.

    Prince Tony Anslem, a Rotarian, said: “We were in church when we heard a sound; we rushed down and started evacuating the victims before the emergency response agencies were contacted.

    “We acted swiftly because the dredging company working around here employed the youths. We were evacuating the victims when men of the NEMA and LASEMA, got here. But before they came, youths in the area had rescued five persons alive.

    “As it was raining, people ran under the shed. I still believe there are people trapped under the debris. We are still expecting to recover a bread seller carrying a baby, but the one we eventually met dead, was the teenage girl with no baby.

    “While we were standing here, one of the rescued victims told us that some were still trapped in there. When we moved in, we were hearing their voice: “We are still here o … we are still here o!” But we could not locate them. So far, five bodies have been removed. The state government has taken four bodies, while mallams took their own immediately.”

    Confirming the incident, both NEMA’s information officer, Ibrahim Farinloye and General Manager of LASEMA Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, said five bodies had been recovered.

    Farinloye told The Nation that one of the injured victims was rushed to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) for surgery. Two others were taken to emergency wards.

    Meanwhile, the NEMA officials, while leaving the scene at about 3.30pm, alleged that they were chased out by a state official who claimed that the incident was a state government affair.

    However, the official denied the allegation, saying: “I did not chase them out and I am not even aware if anyone did.

    “But to put the facts straight, NEMA is a secondary responder. In any state where you have state emergency management committee, it is that committee that is primary responder. It is the state that will call NEMA if we need their assistance or if the situation is beyond our control,” he said.

    The General Manager, Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Dr Abimbola Animashaun-Odunayo, said: “We sealed this structure about three weeks ago with three others in this environment. Whenever we seal buildings, we expect the owners to come with their various documents, but nobody showed up on this particular building.

    “This construction started even before the establishment of our agency and they were not certified. We ordered them to stop work. We did monitor, but unfortunately, they decided to work on a Sunday when our offices were closed. That is why this building collapsed. For this to have happened, it means they broke our seal. The building is substandard and there was no approval.”

    In a related development, a 12-storey building behind Zenith Bank Headqauaters at Ajose Adeogun, Victorias Island, Lagos, was up in flames yesterday. Three floors in the building which house many offices were completely razed.

    Razak Fadipe, Director, Lagos State Fire Service, who confirmed the incident to The Nation yesterday, said he received a destress call around 8.15am .

    He said when their fire truck from Onikan got to the scene, his men discovered they could not handle it alone. They therefore alerted the Ijora Service Station from where another truck moved in.

    “The fire, which affected offices on the first, second and third floors, was put put out by the fire fighters,” Fadipe said.

    He said investigation to unravel the cause of the fire had begun.

  • Ajimobi, Ladoja’s pact collapses

    Ajimobi, Ladoja’s pact collapses

    Signs of a major crack in the political alliance between the Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi and a former governor of the state, Rashidi Ladoja, may likely alter the political dynamics in the pacesetter state ahead the 2015 general elections, reports Remi Adelowo

     

    It was ex-governor Rashidi Ladoja that fired the first salvo. In an interview with a national newspaper some weeks ago, he had accused incumbent governor, Abiola Ajimobi, of alleged poor performance in his close to two years in office.

    Amongst other issues he raised in the interview, Ladoja was unsparing in his criticism of the Ajimobi-led administration’s urban renewal programme, infrastructural development policy, construction of a new five-star hotel in Ibadan, to mention but a few.

    Response from the state government was swift. About two weeks ago, the State Executive Council, at the end of its weekly meeting, called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to return some properties belonging to the state that were allegedly seized from Ladoja in the wake of his arraignment in court sometime in 2009 for allegedly selling some shares belonging to the state government running into hundreds of millions of naira to private cronies.

    For keen watchers of the state politics, Ladoja’s outbursts were not unexpected. Sources revealed that after initial procrastination, the former governor, following pressures from his supporters, may have made up his mind to challenge Ajimobi for the governorship seat in 2015.

    In the last one year, Ladoja, who is the leader of Accord Party in the state, according to sources, has been busy strengthening his party’s structures across the 33 Local Government Areas in the state.

    Apart from this, his actions and utterances of his party’s spokesman, Chief Dotun Oyelade, against almost every policy of the state government, has turned Ladoja into the main opposition figure in the state.

     

    How the 2011 alliance was struck

    It was one election that was keenly contested. But in the end, Ajimobi, the governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) was declared the winner, beating the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s Adebayo Alao-Akala and Accord Party’s Ladoja to second and third places, respectively.

    The State Assembly election was no different. The ACN won 13 seats, PDP got 11, while Accord clinched 10. According to sources, this scenario presented Ajimobi with no other choice but to reach an accord with Ladoja, who, according to his close associates, was approached by PDP leaders to work with the party in the election to produce the leadership of the state assembly.

    For Ajimobi and his party, allowing PDP to produce the speaker would be akin to committing political suicide. To ensure the stability of his government, the governor allegedly exploited his blood relationship with Ladoja (both are said to be cousins) to cut a deal.

    Compromises were made by both sides. In the end, ACN produced the speaker in the person of Mrs. Monsurat Sunmonu, an indigene of Oyo town, while Accord got the deputy speakership slot. In addition, Accord nominated two of its members as commissioners and also got some local government chairmanship seats.

    However, the governor’s deal with Ladoja allegedly did not go down well with some chieftains of his party, who were of the opinion that given a reversal of circumstances, Ladoja would have breached such an agreement. The Nation gathered that those opposed to the alliance were also said to have impressed it on the governor that alliance or no alliance, Ladoja’s ambition to return to the government house overrides any other consideration.

    But the governor refused to bow to this pressure. According to sources close to him, he was never tired of telling critics of his action that his word to include members of the opposition in his government remains sacrosanct.

    In a newspaper interview sometime last year, the governor said,  ‘Agreed that these people (opposition party members) in my administration belong to opposition parties, they are not indigenes of opposing states. So, they are entitled to contribute their quota in our quest to reposition the state.’

     

    How things fell apart

    Sources in the governor’s camp said ambition, rather than any other consideration, is the motivating factor behind Ladoja’s recent criticisms of the Ajimobi-led administration. ‘The man (Ladoja) is obsessed about his desire of staging a comeback to the government house,’ said a source.

    Until Ladoja finally decided to take another shot at the governorship election, opinions were divided among his close associates on whether the former governor should contest again, given his age (he is in his mid-60’s). At some point, said a source, Mr. Bisi Ilaka, Accord Party’s senatorial candidate for Oyo Central in the 2011 elections, was penciled down as the party’s governorship candidate for the 2015 election.

    But majority of the party members allegedly argued that Ladoja remains the best bet for the next election due to his perceived popularity in the state. They won. From this point, AP leaders allegedly resolved to begin a massive propaganda against the incumbent governor.

     

    Ajimobi fights back

    While the governor has tactically refrained from openly exchanging words with Ladoja, he is said not to be taking the challenge from the former governor with kid gloves. According to a source, this latest stance may have informed the state government’ call on the EFCC to speed up the prosecution of Ladoja and Ajimobi’s immediate predecessor, Akala, over corruption charges. While Ladoja’s case has been in court since 2008, Akala’s case began early last year.

     

    His other strategies

    Though the governor has not formally declared his interest in seeking for a second term in office, there are strong indications that he may do so later in the year.

    The governor, it was gathered, has been busy reorganising his party, a responsibility that he assumed, following the death of the ACN leader in the state, Alhaji Lam Adesina. Just last week, the governor met with elders of the party from the three senatorial zones in the state. The parley was preceded by the governor’s meeting with members of the party across the state, including local government chairmen, who, at another meeting, endorsed the governor for a second term.

    Besides redoubling his efforts in the urban renewal programme of his administration, intensification of the infrastructural development across the state, the governor, in a very quiet manner, is also maintaining his cordial relationship with different power blocs in the state and individuals.

    These power blocs, it was gathered, include civil servants and pensioners, traditional rulers and opinion leaders, while in spite of rumours of a friction, the governor’s relationship with powerful individuals like Alhaji Abdulazeez Arisekola Alao and the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, seems to be waxing stronger every passing day.

     

  • Commissioner collapses as Suswam sacks 11 cabinet members, Head of Service

    Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State yesterday sacked 11 commissioners in a major cabinet reshuffle since his administration came on aboard in 2007.

    The governor also appointed a new Head of Service, Mr. Terna Ahua, who replaced Mr. Mike Iordye.

    Among the dropped commissioners are: Dr. Eugene Aliegba, Agriculture; Hon. Benjamin Ashaver, Works; Jacob Omenka, Rural Development; John Ngbede, Water Resources and Environment; and Godwin Adah Science and Technical education.

    Others are: Elizabeth Ugo, Education; Elizabeth Allagh, Women Affairs; Simon kwaghbula, Housing and Urban Development; Hon. John Tondo, Lands and Survey; Orduen Abunku, Health and Services; and Comfort Ajene, Culture and Tourism.

    Meanwhile, one of the affected commissioners was aid to have collapsed after hearing the news of the cabinet shake-up.

     

  • Five killed as church building collapses in Anambra

    Five killed as church building collapses in Anambra

    FIVE persons were killed and over 100 others including children and a priest injured when a church collapsed in Nnewi, Anambra State yesterday.

    The incident occurred during the Sunday service.

    The elderly wore sullen faces and the youth shouted on top of their voices amid pandemonium at the Ezinifite community, Nnewi South local government, after the incident. The St. Thomas the Aguiros Catholic Church that gave way was under construction.

    Over 2000 worshipers were attending mass when the incident occurred. One of the dead, according to church sources was Mrs Okoye the woman leader of Ezinifite Improvement Union (Women President General).

    Mrs Okoye, until her death was the step mother of the main financier of the church building project— Chief Leonard Ike Okoye — an Aba-based business mogul.

    Our source said the Parish Priest, Rev Fr Cornelius Ezeoliaku, is in an hospital in Nnewi.

    But the Financial Secretary of the Ezinifite Improvement Union, Mr John Nwosu, a retired journalist, gave the death toll as three. He said many people were seriously injured.

    He added that the church located at Ifite has the highest concentration of worshippers in the village even though Saint Michaels’ is the man Parish. He said as at the time of the collapse the church had over 2,000 worshippers.

    Nwosu said the Church was at decking level, adding that the skeleton for roofing was already on before the collapse. He described the incident as a setback and a bad omen for the church and the community. He could not give further details.

    The President General of the Community Mr Ike Ifediniru, could not be reached. The community has no traditional ruler for now.

    A detachment of the Army and Police was busy assisting victims.

    The Catholic Bishop of Nnewi diocese, Most Reverend Hillary Odili Okeke, could not be reached yesterday.

    He was said to be abroad.

  • Five killed, 100 others injured as church collapses in Anambra

    Five persons were killed and about 100 others injured yesterday when St Thomas the Aquinas Catholic Church in Ezinifite, Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State, collapsed.

    The incident caused pandemonium in the community.

    Children were wailing, old people wore sullen faces and youths were shouting as the families of the victims wept uncontrollably.

    The Nation leant that the church building was under construction when it suddenly collapsed.

    Over 2,000 worshippers were reportedly going through the Sunday service when the building caved in.

    Among the dead is the Woman Leader of Ezinifite Improvement Union (the Woman President-General), identified as Mrs Okoye (aka Miss).

    Mrs Okoye was the stepmother of the highest financier of the church, Chief Leonard Ike Okoye, an Aba businessman and one of the richest men in Ezinifite.

    It was also learnt that the parish priest, Rev Cornelius Ezeoliaku, was among the injured who are receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital in Nnewi.

    But the Financial Secretary of the Ezinifite Improvement Union, Mr John Nwosu, told The Nation that the death toll was only three.

    He said scores of worshippers were seriously injured.

    According to him, the church, located at Ifite village, has the highest concentration of worshippers in the area, though St Michael’s is the parish headquarters.

    The retired journalist explained that at the time of the collapse, the church had over 2,000 worshippers.

    Nwosu said the church was at decking level and that the skeleton for roofing were already on before the collapse describing it as a big setback and bad omen for not only the church but the community at large. He however could not give further details.

    The President-General of the community, Mr Ik Ifediniru, could not be reached.

    The community has no traditional ruler. Their monarch died sometime ago and the residents have not produced another Igwe following an alleged tussle on the stool.

    A detachment of the Army and police as well as the villagers were battling to save those trapped under the rubble yesterday.

    But no one wanted to speak on the causality figures and what led to the collapse.

    Efforts to speak with the Catholic Bishop of Nnewi Diocese, Rev. Hillary Odili Okeke, were unsuccessful.

    He was said to have travelled abroad.

    There was no official emergency rescue team at the scene of the incident.

  • Four-storey building collapses in Onitsha

    An uncompleted four-storey building, at 20 Ukaeje Street, Awada, On the outskirts of Onitsha, the Anambra State capital, collapsed on Friday.

    A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), who visited the site on Saturday, said many people witnessed the incident.

    Mr Steven Okechukwu, a resident, said the incident occurred at noon on Friday.

    Okechukwu said nobody died although some unused building materials were still in the debris of the building.

    He said: “As you can see, the collapse of the uncompleted building suggests that sub-standard or inadequate materials were used in it.

    “There had been at least monthly incidents of collapsed buildings, especially the newly-built ones in Onitsha.

    “And till now, the Anambra Government has not been out with a clear regulation and frame-work to check these death traps being erected,” he said.

    Mr Ojo Momodu, Station Officer of Isiwolu Police Station, Nkpor-Awada, said the incident had not been reported to the police.

    “We are just hearing about it and no one has come to report the incident.

    “Although with your information, we would go down to the spot and investigate it,” Momodu said.

    NAN recalls that in September, an uncompleted five-storey building collapsed at 5 Nnewi Street, Fegge in Onitsha