AMMC to start investigations

Mr Umar Shuaibu, Coordinator, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), says investigations will commence immediately on the collapsed Jabi building.

He noted that only six persons had been rescued with various degrees of injuries and had been rushed to a nearby hospital, with one death recorded so far.

The coordinator described the incidence as unfortunate and assured that adequate measures would be taken to prevent any future occurrence.

“This is an accident. What happened is an unfortunate incidence. We have this kind of building collapse occurrence all over the world, not only in Nigeria.

“We are going to start our investigations now; we are going to take adequate measures to prevent any future occurrence.

“We have passed the first phase, the next phase is evacuating these rubbles and we implore the general public not to be here.

“There are so many scavengers around, so we are going to instruct security agencies that anybody they catch around this area should be arrested,’’ he said.

He, however, noted that all the stakeholders worked overnight to ensure lives were saved and not a single soul was buried under the rubbles.

He commended stakeholders for their quick action to tackle the situation.

“We worked overnight with all floodlights, with all equipment, you can see it.

“We were able to bring out everything and found out that there is no single soul buried under this rubble.

“We had machines that helped and did professional job,’’ Shuaibu said.

Mr Eze Celestine, member, Architects Association of Nigeria, said that the professional bodies were concerned about the incidence of collapsed buildings in the country.

Celestine advised that there should be relevant professionals in every construction site in the country, not just anybody, to ensure the environment is safe for all concerned.

“In any construction site in Nigeria not only Abuja, there should be a regulatory industry personnel.

“Not where anybody will come and claim that he is an architect, engineer or a builder. The enforcement has to be stronger,’’ he said.