
Abia State Government has dismissed reports making the rounds that five construction workers had lost their lives following the collapse of a building at the ongoing remodelling work at Block D of Ekeoha market, Aba.
There are reports that some parts of a building undergoing remodelling at the market had caved in and killed five workers as they were working on the second floor of the building.
Reacting to the incident, some traders at the market alleged that the contractor may have used interior materials in the remodelling work and urged Governor Alex Otti to investigate the incident and engage experts to do a test of the structural integrity of the entire work at the construction site to avoid recurrence.
Inspecting the construction site to ascertain the situation, Director General of Greater Aba Development Authority, GADA, Architect Uche Ukeje, described the report of the death of the five workers at the site as false and misleading.
Ukeje, who was represented by Public Relations Officer, PRO, of the agency, Mrs Chibuzo Amaechi, disclosed that the state government has set up a committee headed by Engr Felix Nnabugwu, which includes members of the Nigerian Institute of Architects, the Nigerian Society of Engineers, and the Nigerian Institute of Builders, to investigate the incident.
He further disclosed that the committee has been given a two-week ultimatum to investigate and submit its report on the incident and pledged not to interfere with the investigation.
Meanwhile, the developer of the project, Rhino Homes, attributed the incident to what it described as ‘minor temporary props failure’, which occurred as a result of the sub-contractor’s reuse of bamboo props during the concrete casting process.