Three- storey building collapses in Ebonyi
A three- storey building under construction in Abakaliki, capital of Ebonyi has collapsed, eye witness account has said. No life was lost in the incident.
The building is situated at Nkaliki road, close to the Local Council Headquarters.
The eye witness told signaturetv.org that top government officials had already visited the site and cordoned off the area.
He said the officials directed that work be stopped at the site and ordered the immediate arrest of the site engineer.
According to him, the officials also directed the Abakaliki Capital Territory Development Board, ACTDB,to produce the staff that approved the building as well as those responsible for monitoring the construction of the building.
He added that the Chairman of ACTDB, Dr Uche Onwe, said that investigations revealed that substandard materials were utilized in the construction of the building.
“The Engineer attached to the building did not do any professional work. The quality of iron rods, the mixture, concreting are not up to standard.
“You can see we have sealed it, there is a lot of compromises even from the foundation,” he said.
The chairman said the Board has launched an investigation into the incident, adding those found culpable will be arrested and prosecuted.
“The building is going to be demolished today and evacuated. Every building has a town planner, an Engineer and a professional builder attached but in the course of construction these people compromise
“This structure wasn’t approved during my time but we take responsibility for it because government is a continuum.
“We will trace the file to know if it was actually approved for three story and if it followed the stipulated standard.
“We will make arrests and prosecuted them as soon as possible, “he was quoted as saying.
Among the government officials that visited the site of the collapsed building were the Secretary to the State Government Kenneth Ugbala; Commissioner for Internal Security, Stanley Okoro Emegha; Special Assistant to the Governor on Capital Territory, Chinyelu Udoku and the Chairman of Abakaliki Capital Territory Development Board, ACTDB, Dr Uche Onwe visited the site.
