•The collapsed building
As Abia State government commences investigations into the circumstances leading to the collapse of a three storey building in Afaraukwu axis of Umuahia town at the early hours of last Saturday, an Umuahia-based legal practitioner, Goodman Iheikwunacho Esq. has asked the investigators to dig deeper and unravel the main reason for the collapse.
Briefing journalists in Umuahia today, Iheikwunacho said the investigators should look beyond preconceived factors such as technicalities in order to achieve a resounding success.
The building came down in the early hours of Saturday leaving a 35-year old woman, Blessing Ugochukwu, and her two little children escaping miraculously, reports Daily Independent.
As a result, the state government on Monday constituted a team of investigators saddled with the task of finding out what led to the collapse.
There are indications that the incident would be investigated by three different teams, the one by the state government and another by the Umuahia Capital Development Authority (UCDA) as well as the one by the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Umuahia Area Office.
COREN has already sent a technical team to the scene of the collapsed building for preliminary assessment of the situation.
Barr Iheikwunacho, while reacting to development, said that the scope of
investigations should not be circumscribed, pointing out that “it should go beyond the obvious factors so that the real cause of the building collapse would be unravelled and future occurrences prevented”.
According to him, there is the urgent need for investigators to go beyond the usual technical issues of structural defects and non-compliance with building regulations, and also check for a possible sabotage taken into consideration all the circumstances.
“I’m aware that the owner of the collapsed building, Chief Ikechi Emenike is a well known political figure and governorship candidate of APC here in Abia State in 2023. So, you can’t rule out the possibilities that his enemies could be at work.
“I have also read reports in the media quoting residents of the area where the building collapsed as saying that they heard a loud boom, which some said sounded like thunder, others said like an explosion,” he said.
Iheikwunacho, who is a property and commercial lawyer, noted that as a top politician, “you never can tell if there are people nursing grievances against him(Emenike), and might resort to doing all sorts of things to damage his name and image”.
He, therefore, insisted that investigations should include looking out for extraneous factors that might have brought down the building.
He added “when an edifice crumbles like a pack of cards, a whole lot of things could have been responsible.
“So, let the investigators open their minds and approach their job from every angle and every possible lead, and in that way arrive at a conclusion that would not be questionable”.
Meanwhile, the Abia government has said that it would carry out an integrity test on the two remaining buildings following the collapse of one out of the three blocks of three-storey buildings in the premises.
