Building collapse: Govt Declares Engineer Wanted
A three-storey building under construction at the Nkaliki area of Abakaliki, in the Abakaliki Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, has collapsed.
It was gathered that no life was lost in the incident as workers had yet to resume for work for the day when the building, located on the Nkaliki Road, opposite the local government secretariat collapsed.
The Secretary to the State Government, Kenneth Ugbala; Commissioner for Internal Security, Stanley Emegha; Special Assistant to the Governor on Capital Territory, Chinyelu Udoku; and the Chairman of the Abakaliki Capital Territory Development Board, Dr Uche Onwe, were at the scene of the incident soon after the collapse.
While the SSG directed the immediate sealing off of the site and demolition of remaining parts of the building, Emegha ordered the arrest of the site engineer.
Udoku directed the ACTDB to produce the staff member(s), who approved the building, and all those in charge of monitoring the construction, while Onwe said preliminary investigation revealed that the builders used substandard materials, which exposed the building to structural defects.
Onwe stated, “The engineer attached to the building did not do any professional work. The quality of iron rods and the concrete mixture are not up to standard. You can see that we have sealed it off; there is a lot of compromise even from the foundation.
“Investigation into the incident has been launched. All those found culpable will be arrested and prosecuted.
“The building is going to be demolished today and evacuated. Every building has a town planner, an engineer and a professional builder attached to it, but in the course of construction, these people compromise.
