One building collapse too many
Scores of people were killed and many others suffered injuries when the building of the Reigners Bible Church International collapsed in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on Saturday December 10, 2016 during the consecration of the church’s founder as Bishop. Among worshipers and guests who narrowly escaped unhurt was Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State, […]
Scores of people were killed and many others suffered injuries when the building of the Reigners Bible Church International collapsed in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on Saturday December 10, 2016 during the consecration of the church’s founder as Bishop. Among worshipers and guests who narrowly escaped unhurt was Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State, who was the special guest. The man being honoured, Apostle Akan Weeks, also rescued unhurt. Eye witnesses said the hall was full to capacity when the roof came crashing down. According to a survivor, normal church service was going on until 20 minutes after the governor’s arrival when the uncompleted building’s roof fell on worshippers.
Governor Emmanuel has announced the setting up of a panel to investigate the incident. He said structural defects were clearly noticeable even to a layman. Besides the panel set up to probe the incident, the governor also pledged to contact the Nigerian Society of Engineers in the state to ascertain if it was a case of negligence on the part of those who constructed the building. If structural defects were obvious as insinuated by Emmanuel, his aides who should have noticed that as an advance party to the event ought to have advised the governor against attending the occasion. Besides, the building had a stop-work order marked on it.
The combined efforts of Julius Berger, the police, the army, Fire Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Federal Road Safety Corps and Nigeria Medical Association in the rescue effort were very laudable. The State Police Command’s PRO Cordelia Nwawe said 29 persons were confirmed dead while 30 others were hospitalized. We commend the Akwa Ibom State Government which the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor Ekerete Udoh said will foot the victims’ medical bills.
Kashim Ali, President of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has advised the engineers involved in the church building’s construction to report to COREN’s Secretariat. He said COREN has set up a panel to investigate reasons for the collapse. Ali said although building “failure is not unusual, failure must come in a structured way so that it does not kill people”. He said preliminary investigations have shown that the building was located on a slope at a sharp corner, which was dangerous. According to him, the columns and beams used in the construction had inadequate stirrups. The base plates were inadequate in size to provide sufficient weld length for the trusses they supported. Available information from the Uyo Capital Development Authority also shows that the building, which construction started around 2013, had no approval. The Stop-work order which was marked on the building several times was also disregarded.
Going forward we urge government officials to seek police help to enforce stop-work orders at building sites. These orders are flouted because violators are never punished even when it leads to loss of lives. The Reigners Bible Church building collapse is the second such Nigerian church incident with such a high toll in two years. These give church leaders and the country a bad image at home and abroad. Although failure by site engineers to strictly adhere to professional guidelines is the main culprit, preachers of God’s word should be the last persons to stampede engineers to breach building regulations, maybe because they were in a hurry to do a ceremony.
Two years ago the Synagogue Church building collapsed in Lagos and killed 115 persons, most of them South Africans. Although the church’s senior pastor linked the tragedy to a strange aircraft that “hovered” above the building, three professional bodies including COREN attributed the collapse to structural failure. We urge the panel set up by Governor Emmanuel to submit its report on schedule. We also call on the state government to prosecute persons found to have compromised professional standards in the construction of the Reigners Bible Church building.