Fubara Orders Investigation Into 5-Storey Building Collapse In Port Harcourt

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, says a thorough investigation will be carried out to ascertain the causes of the collapsed five-storey building along Peter Odili Road in Port Harcourt.

The Government said this when he visited the site of the collapsed structure on Thursday. He expressed deep concern over the incident.

The Governor also condemned the actions of the developer who, on several occasions, denied engineers and other experts from the State Ministry of Urban Development access to monitor the project, claiming that they had no right to inspect the project owned by the Federal Housing Authority.

The five-storey building under construction collapsed on Wednesday at about 10 am local time, causing panic among residents and commuters.

Several persons were said to have been trapped under the rubble, emergency rescue operations safely brought out some trapped workers from the debris.

While a few have been rescued, several persons remain unaccounted for, according to local sources.

The sad incident occurred just two days after a three-storey building collapsed in the Rumuolumeni community in Obio Akpor Local Government Area of the State.

Governor Fubara described the incident as unfortunate and blamed it on the incompetence and lack of cooperation from the developer, who at every point maintained that the State government had no power to monitor the project owned by the Federal Housing Authority.

While sympathising with the victims and all those affected by the incident, the Governor assured that the State government would leave no stone unturned in determining the immediate and remote causes of the building collapse.

Governor Siminalayi Fubara used the opportunity to assure that the safety of lives and property remains a top priority of his administration.