Building Collapse: I’ve lost two children in two months — Grieving mother
..Father of PA to developer slumps
A middle-aged woman who claimed to be mother to one of the victims of the collapsed 21-storey building located on Gerard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, said that she has lost two children in the space of two months with her son’s death in the collapsed building. The woman who was weeping profusely and begging that her son should be brought out of the collapsed building dead or alive said, barely three months ago, one of her sons whom she identified as Bolu passed on and now, Sesan, another son of hers has been involved in the incident that has left more than 21 persons dead already.
“I never knew what happened at the site was this massive until I got here. My son usually come home every Sunday, he was involved in this unfortunate incident the day he returned to work, I am begging the government and the people involved to help me bring my son out either dead or alive, so that I can know my fate,” she said. Also, a father to one of the victims of the collapsed building, who identified himself as Idowu Adeyiga, said the owner of the building is a relative of his and several others in their home town in Ikene, Ogun State.
He described Mr. Femi Osibona, the developer of the ill-fated building as a great philanthropist who was well loved by all. “My son Hammed Adeyiga whom many know as Emmanuel has been acting as a Personal Assistant to Osibona whenever he is in the country and he was with him on the day of the incident, it is a big loss to us in Ikenne.
“We have lost two brothers in the same family in a day, we are grieving presently in our home town, it is a terrible loss to us.” However, while he was still speaking with our correspondent in tears, Mr. Adeyiga suddenly slumped and was later revived by the medical team on ground Earlier, family members of two other victims told Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu while he yet addressing journalists that they are yet to know the fate of their family members. One Jude Obochukwu said: “My brother is still in there, all we want is closure to this case, but they have refused to allow us to get close to the site, we are in serious pain, all we need is early closure.” Also, one Abel Godwin, said he came from Abuja early morning of Wednesday to look for his son who was among the workers in the collapsed building, describing the incident as an unfortunate one. “My son is one of the victims, he is 18-years old, I got here since I heard the news.
I have not been able to ascertain whether my son is alive or not, I have been to General Hospital and I still was not given access.” Sanwo-Olu, while pleading with Godwin to exercise patience, promised that he would be alerted in case of any information. Earlier, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu said a 7-man panel has been set up to investigate the cause of the building collapse within 30-days. He said the panel members who are thorough professionals in their field are drawn from the private sectors.
“I have set up a high powered commission of enquiry and it consists of everybody, but outside of government and they have been given a 30-day assignment to identify what has gone wrong on the collapsed building.” The members of the panel are: Town Planner Tayo Ayinde, President of Town Planner Institute of Nigeria, Dr Akintilo Idriss Adeleke, foremost structural engineer, Architect Yinka Ogundairo, Builder Godfrey O Godfrey and Mrs Bunmi Ibrahim, a lawyer and property developer, “the secretary of the panel is Ekundayo Onajobi and I am going to sign an executive order to give a legal backing to their composition and make their report known within 30 days.”
While condoling with the family of those who lost their lives at the 21-storey building, Sanwo-Olu said the incident was a clear national disasters, noting that mistakes were made from all angles and this are things that were not supposed to be happening in a modern day city like Lagos. A relative of one of the victims, who identified himself as John said his cousin, one Samuel Welu who came from London perished in the building when he came to inspect it.
He said: “It was unfortunate, we don’t know his whereabout since then, after they checked the building and decided which apartment to take, he was coming out from the compound when the developer called him back with some other people, immediately he entered the building it came down and since then we have been looking for him. “They made payment from London after applying online for the house, we have been at the scene since Monday waiting to hear good news, we are presently saddened.” It was gathered that three females and five males were recovered from the rubble on Wednesday, while total number people evacuated now stands at 29. The death of Onyinye Enekwe in the collapsed building is another heart wrenching story. The deceased, a graduate of the Nnamdi Azikwe University, was one of the personal assistants to Osibona. The incident consumed her less than a week after she joined Osibona’s company.
(New Telegraph)
