…Orders Investigation, Arrest of Developers
The Federal Capital Territory ( FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, on Monday ordered the immediate sealing of the construction site, arrest of the developers and an investigation of the incident.
New Telegraph recalls that a three-storey building under construction at the Gudu district collapsed two days ago, killing 5 persons, injuring no one, while over 10 workers on the site were rescued alive and taken to the hospital.
Wike, who visited the site after inspecting some road projects, said that losing human lives to the negligence of people who claimed to be professionals was not acceptable.
The Minister, who also described the incident as “very pathetic”, disclosed that one of the site engineers has already been taken into police custody, while the developer would be arrested.
He said, ”From the report I got, not less than four people. Nobody is happy when you lose somebody.
“The government is taking over this site. The Department of Development Control has sealed off the premises, and we are setting up an expert panel to really look at what happened,” he said.
He added, “When you are constructing buildings of this nature, the lives of the people are very, very important.
“We must know the quality of materials. What does the soil test allow? Can it support two or three floors? Will it allow for piling or a raft foundation? All these are key.”
Also, speaking, the Director of the Department of Development Control, Bashir Sanusi, revealed that from the preliminary report, there were critical underground anomalies that were completely hidden from developers.
According to him, the soil at the site was composed of dredged waterways accumulated over the years. Crucially, a historic local well, filled with loose debris and clay, lay directly beneath the construction footprint, unbeknownst to the development team.
He said, ”C” Columns and D were unfortunately placed directly on top of this hidden pit.
“The depth of the well was two meters, but the length of the columns was only 1.5 meters. That shortage and structural gap created the collapse,” Sanusi said.
