A building collapse at Obingwu in Ukwa West local government area of Abia State has killed five workers, the Abia State government has confirmed.
Confirming the incident on Monday, the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Okey Kanu, disclosed that the state had declared a manhunt for the building contractor.
Kanu, who stated this in a statement regretted that the contractor has not been seen after the incident, even as he noted that the state upon receiving information on the incident which happened last week, mobilised all emergency services that expeditiously mobilised evacuation facilities to the scene of the incident.
He noted that members of Obingwu community also joined in the rescue operation, but regretted that all the five workers trapped were brought out dead.
“Most unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the rescue teams, all five persons trapped under the rubble of the collapsed building were brought out dead.”
Kanu said preliminary reports have attributed the building collapse to the possible usage of substandard building materials and poor supervision of work at the site.
“The Abia State government has ordered a full-scale investigation into the remote and immediate causes of the building collapse. Also, the Mayor of Ukwa West is working with the Nigeria Police in the local government to affect the arrest of the building contractor who is yet to be seen since the incident took place as his arrest will enhance the process of the investigations,” the statement indicated.
He commiserating with the members of the bereaved families.
The commissioner, however, advised those in the building industry to always adhere to the best practices in terms of quality of materials and supervision in their building activities.
