No fewer than 6 persons have been left injured after an event centre at Ijero Ekiti in the Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti State, collapsed.
Daily Report Nigeria reports that the incident happened at about 4:15 pm on Saturday, September 2, while the event center was being used for a burial reception ceremony.
A prompt arrival of Fire Services personnel at the scene is said to have prevented casualties, as they rescued the victims from the rubble and swiftly transported them to the hospital for treatment.
Six of the guests who sustained serious injuries were rushed to hospital for medical attention.
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Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, on Sunday sympathised with the victims over the degree of injuries sustained and also expressed joy that no life was lost in the incident.
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Oyebanji, represented by his deputy, Monisade Afuye, who visited the collapsed building and Ijero General Hospital, where some victims received treatments, on Sunday morning, directed all the agencies of government to ensure that all the public buildings of that nature are supervised and certified at every stage to avoid unwarranted fatalities.
The governor said the incident could have been averted, if proper building compliance with specifications were carried out by government agencies, warning that situation like that shouldn’t be allowed to reoccur in the state.
Oyebanji assured that his goverment will map out strategies to make Emergency Management Equipment available in all the local governments to respond to any alarming situation.
He said: “Let me sympathise with the victims of this devastating incident. Nobody prays for bad thing to happen , but we need to be proactive in preventing occurrences of this nature, rather than being retroactive.
“I know that if the building had been thoroughly supervised and certified fit at every stage of the erection, this incident could have been averted.
“It is just normal and procedural that all public buildings should be monitored and that they built to specifications and with standard materials used because the common feature associated with building collapse now is for contractors to use substandard products.
“We thank God that no life was lost. But as a responsible government, we won’t wait until people died before taking actions that can safeguard their lives. That is why it is most expedient that all government’s agencies must be responsive to their duties all the times.”
