In connection with the collapse of a three-story building on Nweke Okuzu street, Ugbene II in Enugu east local government area of Enugu state on Friday, the Nigeria Building and Roads Research Institute, NBRRI, a federal government institution, has begun an investigation into the incident.
In the wake of the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority’s instruction that any building left unfinished for more than five years would be subjected to an integrity test.
If the unfinished structure fails the integrity test, according to Dr. Josef Onoh of the East Coast Development Authority (ECTDA), it will be dismantled and appropriate sanctions will be imposed to prevent further construction collapses.
An investigation team from the National Bureau of Road Research (NBRRI), led by Engr Gerald Chukwuma stated that the agency was notified of the collapsed building and that as a result, they were deployed from Abuja to come and collect samples of debris from the fallen building so that testing could be undertaken to determine the cause of the building collapse.
In the opinion of Chukwuma, the agency would need to conduct scientific research on the samples before determining the most likely cause of the collapse. He added that from the onsite and physical investigations, they had discovered that some of the concretes were poor, as well as reinforcement bars that they suspected, were inappropriate, as well as insufficient supervision.
To prevent collapses, he explained that several steps must be taken during construction. These include soil testing, design approval by the appropriate authorities, and construction supervision to ensure that the design is followed precisely.
“We are not an agency that assigns blames but we are independent investigators. We get information, get data on what causes building collapse and see how we can liaise with persons involved, give them reasons why such things happen and also in a round table find ways in which we can proffer solutions to avert such issues,” Chukwuma explained.
The premises of a three-story structure that collapsed and smashed into an adjacent residential building were sealed over the weekend by the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority for inquiry, following which the remains of the building would be removed from the area.
In response to the building collapsing into his residence, Mr. Ndukwe Bamidele, the owner of the impacted residential dwelling, stated that his family has been forced to relocate. He, on the other hand, expressed gratitude to God for ensuring that no one in his family was killed when the three-story building that housed his home collapsed on them.
