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Poor materials caused Uyo building collapse, say experts

By Anietie Akpan (Calabar), Inemesit Akpan-Nsoh (Uyo), Kelvin Ebiri (Port Harcourt), Hendrix Oliomogbe (Asaba), Nnamdi Akpa (Abakaliki) and Bertram Nwannekanma (Lagos)
12 December 2016   |   2:22 am
Engineers have attributed last weekend’s building collapse in Uyo, Akwa Ibom to usage of insufficient or poor materials.

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•Instititute urges speedy passage of bill
•Police confirm 27 dead
•Okowa, Umahi, PFN mourn •NDDC boss urges probe

Engineers have attributed last weekend’s building collapse in Uyo, Akwa Ibom to usage of insufficient or poor materials.

According to Solomon Jessie, “they must have used all these unskilled professionals to handle the work. They did not use a competent professional because a competent professional must calculate the load of all the cross beams, the pillars, the maximum number of persons the building can accommodate which a non-professional cannot achieve before embarking on building or any construction.

To another engineer, Itoro Timothy, the building caved in to “sheer carelessness of the builders or the engineers. I was there personally and I discovered that all the irons used as beams or rafters for the roofing were not supported at all by any supporting pillars except the ones on the side of the building.”

The Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) has called for the speedy passage of the national building regulations bill.
NIOB’s vice president, Kunle Awobodu, regretted that the bill was still pending at the National Assembly after second reading.

Awobodu, who is also the president of Building Collapse Prevention Group (BCPG), described the tragedy at Reigners’ Bible Church Int’l Inc. as avoidable.

The state’s Commissioner of Police, Mutala Mani, yesterday put the death toll at 27 with 37 others injured.

Also yesterday, Governors Ifeanyi Okowa and David Umahi of Delta and Ebonyi states as well as the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) commiserated with the Akwa Ibom State Government and people over the incident.

They sent their condolences in separate statements signed by their media aides, Charles Aniagwu and Emma Anya as well as PFN’s state president, Pastor Sylvanus Ukafia.

Also reacting, the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nsima Ekere, urged the state government to meticulously probe the incident.

He said government must enforce regulations to make buildings safer.

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