Enugu Building Collapse: Gov. Mbah’s Swift Mobilisation Led To Rescue Of Occupants — Chief Fire, Rescue Officer Ohaa
The Director of Enugu State Fire and Rescue Service, Chief Okwudili Ohaa, says swift mobilisation of resources by Gov. Peter Mbah led to rescue of five persons tripped in a collapsed building in Enugu metropolis.
The uncompleted four-storey building situated along Ogbaru Street by Alvan Ikokwu Street in Independence Layout, Enugu, collapsed early on Sunday morning.
Ohaa told the newsmen on Sunday that all five occupants of the building, as confirmed by the security guard on duty the collapsed building, were successful rescued.
He noted that four of the occupants were rescued alive and conscious but with injures, while the fifth occupant was rescued unconscious.
Ohaa applauded Gov. Mbah for his swift mobilisation of emergency responding agencies, which included: Red Cross, Enugu State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the Enugu State Ambulance Services, the Police and NSCDC.
Others are the scene includes the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Enugu Capital Territory Development Agency (ECTDA) and a Chinese construction company that brought four heavy duty cranes.
According to him, the governor alerted me very early in the morning on the incident and the officers of the Enugu State Fire and Rescue Service immediately mobilise to the scene with extricating machines.
“His Excellency, Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, must be commended for also mobilising adequate rescue equipment such as heavy duty cranes, bulldozers and excavators, which ensured the rescue of the five persons.
“As rescue officers, what we did was to ask the security man how many people are here. He said that there were supposed to be six. One person had left before it happened.
“So, we were able at that initial time to rescue four persons. Out of the four, two sustained minor injuries and they were all rushed to a health facility for proper checks,” he said.
Ohaa, who is also the Chief Fire and Rescue Officer of the state, said that the fifth person was recovered unconscious and Enugu State Ambulance Services took him to a health facility.
NEMA Information Officer in Enugu, Mr Nnanyelugo Ezeani, who also confirmed the numbers, noted that the situation could have been worse but for the earlier sealing of the site by the state government.
“One person among six residing in the collapsed building was not on the site as at the time of the incident, while five others were rescued and taken to the hospital,” Ezeani said.
Speaking, the Executive Chairman, Enugu Capital Territory Development Agency (ECTDA), Mr Uche Anya, said it was a case of one of the recalcitrant developers who failed to comply with building codes.
Anya said ECTDA had earlier taken regulatory action by sealing the site, which was approved in 2021.
He said, “This property was approved in 2021 before the advent of this administration. But usually, we have a habit of stocktaking and checking on every construction at every stage.
“When I personally led the team that inspected here, we found out that there were serious integrity issues and non-compliance with their 2021 approval.
“I personally issued the first ‘stop work order,’ which, due to the violation, resulted in our sealing the place over the last six months outrightly.
“So, I think within the last 30, 40 days, the representative of the owner, whom they say lives abroad, has been interfacing with us to remedy the situation.
“This is the process that we are still trying to interface on, and it came down.”
Anya noted that he had handed the owner’s representative to the police, not necessarily for detention, but to help with the investigation.
“This is really a very unfortunate situation,” he noted.