The facts surrounding the collapse of the Reigners Bible Church in Uyo on Saturday, December 10, 2016 are still coming with an official saying 200 had been killed in the disaster.
Some accounts say as many as 300 bodies have been deposited in mortuaries in the Akwa Ibom State capital.
Udom Emmanuel, the governor of Akwa Ibom State, who was attending the consecration ceremony of the pastor and founder of the church, Akan Weeks, when the building collapsed on the congregation has said that the building was defective.
According to some reports, Governor Emmanuel “narrowly escaped death”.
Shortly after the incident, the deputy governor, Moses Ekpo, spoke to The Trent from Cameroon saying that he had spoken with the governor and confirmed that he was not injured.
“Accessing this in the face of somebody who is not an engineer, we see a lot of defects in the construction. We will try as much as possible to bring those who were careless about this to book,” Governor Emmanuel told journalists shortly after the incident.
“I will make contact immediately both the Nigerian Society of Engineers and a team of engineers here in Akwa Ibom to assess whether there were pure negligence on the part of those that did this.
“Actually, it is not a good thing and we are really devastated that this could happen. Be rest assured on the part of government, we will do everything possible to make sure that this will never happen again in this state,” he added.
The church building is located at Uyo Village Road, off Barracks Road. It was reportedly “filled to the brim” for the consecration service which would have seen Akan Weeks take on the title of Bishop.
Sources in the church revealed that the building was recently renovated and “upgraded” ahead of the event.
An eyewitness said they were already inside the building when they noticed that the upper part of the building was caving in.
“We saw the building coming down and everybody started running for safety,” she said.
As Many As 200 Dead – Official
Etete Peters, a professor and chief medical director of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital confirmed to the press that at least 200 people were killed in the Reigners Bible Church collapse.
Many of the victims were rushed to the University teaching hospital
“We only lost one person in the hospital except those that were brought dead. In circumstances like this, we have been overwhelmed. We need help from government,” Peters quoted as saying.
“Many victims are in private hospitals and mortuaries scattered all over Uyo metropolis; we can’t really tell how many people have died so far. We have over 200 persons in the mortuaries. We do not have space, as people are still being brought in.
“We have done our best to revive some victims. Right now, we have over 50 cases we are attending to. This is the first time we are witnessing such an incident.”
Uduak Effiong, a survivor, gave estimated the death toll at 300, saying 100 of those bodies were close to her.
“I saw over 100 dead bodies. These were the ones close to me,” Ms. Effiong, a communications art student at the University of Uyo said.
“From my estimation, more than 300 people might have died as people came from other churches in all parts of the state, including government-sponsored praised singers with uniforms to attend the programme. For some of us that escaped, we only did by the special grace of God.”
She said she lost three of her colleagues in the building disaster.
Governor Udom To Set Up Panel Of Enquiry
An official statement from the governor’s office issued by Ekerete Udoh, his chief press secretary promised a full and independent investigation.
“The Government of Akwa Ibom State has commiserated with the families of victims of a collapsed building at Reigners Bible Church International along Uyo Village Road,” the statement, e-mailed to The Trent on Saturday said.
“His Excellency, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr Udom Emmanuel was present at the church during the incident and thereafter personally supervised rescue operations and evacuation of the injured to the hospital. The State Government will undertake the medical treatment of the victims.
“A high-powered panel of enquiry is being constituted to ascertain the immediate and remote factors leading to the collapse of the church building with a view to forestall the re-occurrence of such incident and bring to book persons found to have compromised professional standards in the construction of the building.
“In the meantime, The Government of Akwa Ibom State is appealing to citizens of the state to remain calm, pray for the injured and avoid undue speculation as the situation is being given the best possible attention.”
