Anglican Church probes Anambra building collapse

The Diocese on the Niger (Anglican Communion), Onitsha, Anambra State, has set up a nine-man panel to investigate the cause of the building collapse at the premises of the Dennis Memorial Grammar School in Onitsha, the commercial nerve centre of the state.

The panel was set up on Tuesday by the Anglican Church, DMGS Old Boys Association and the school authorities.

The five-storey building belonging to the Anglican church, was still under construction when it caved in at about 1:15 am on Wednesday, June 12, trapping about three of the construction workers.

Three construction workers, who were initially trapped in the debris of the building collapse, were rescued alive after several efforts by the rescue operations carried out by Anambra State government officials and members of the Red Cross Society.

But one of the trapped workers later died on Thursday, June 13, the following day after his rescue and to date, the cause of the collapse has yet to be ascertained, even though officials of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria and the state physical and planning board have visited the site.

However, in a swift effort to ascertain and investigate the cause of the collapse, the authorities said it set up the committee headed by Justice Peter Obiorah, while Andy Obiamwu will be the secretary.

Other members are Shed Omwuasoanya, Dr Azuka Onweluzo, Ofodile Anieto, Chukwunonto Igboka, Peter Okpala, Samuel Akabogu and Kingsley Ibekwe.

The Bishop on the Niger, Rt. Rev Owen Nwakolo, while addressing journalists at the collapsed building site, on Tuesday, said the committee was given a nine-term reference to carry out its operations within one month to unravel the circumstances behind the collapse.

Nwakolo said the panel is to examine the administrative and technical processes followed during the building to ensure that proper proceedings were followed, study the building plans to ensure they meet the standards and ensure approval was sought as well as obtained from the approved authority and whether the architectural design was from a qualified architect registered with Architects Registration of Council of Nigeria, among others.

He said, “We expect your report within one month from June 18, 2024, the date of the inauguration of the panel.

“You are therefore constituted as a panel of enquiry to investigate and determine the cause of the collapse of the building.

“You are to enquire whether the structural design was by a qualified architect registered with the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria, whether the structural design was by a structural engineer registered with COREN, whether it was properly supervised during construction, whether materials used went through rigorous testing and cause of the collapse.

“The terms of reference included examining the administrative and technical processes followed during the building to ensure that proper procedures were followed.

“Others are to study the building plans to ensure that they meet the expected standards, enquire whether approval was sought and obtained from the approving authority for the building to proceed

“Also to enquire whether the Architectural design of the building was by a qualified Architect registered with the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria, amongst others.”

The Archbishop, Province of the Niger, Bishop of Awka, Dr Alexander Ibezim, flanked by five other bishops in the province thanked God that the situation did not over-escalate as planned by the “enemies of the church and the school”.

Ibezim said, “God has done wonderful, it should have been a tragedy, a lot of lives should have been lost if the school was in session, but because God is with his people, God did not allow the wishes of our enemies to come to pass.

“Anybody seeing this knows that God is a living God, even to say that one life was lost shows that this God is a miraculous God.

“And shows the children schooling in this school and teachers are innocent. We as a province are standing with the Diocese on the Niger in this difficult time in whatever we can do. We are already praying.”

In attendance were Bishop Ephraim Ikeakor of Amichi Diocese, Bishop Obiora Uzochukwu of Mbamiri Diocese, Bishop Prosper Amah of Ogbaru Diocese and Bishop Ndubuisi Obi of Nnewi Diocese, and many priests of the Diocese.