The
atmosphere in the Akwa Ibom State capital has become tense following the ongoing
investigation into the collapsed Reigners Bible Church, Int’l Uyo by the
Commission of Inquiry set up by the state government.
The Commission which is headed by Justice
Umoekoyo Essang (RETD) commenced its fact-finding on the controversial tragic
event of January 4, 2017 at the State Judiciary Headquarters, Wellington Bassey
Way, Uyo.
Majority
of Akwa Ibom citizens are waiting impatiently to know the outcome of the
ongoing investigation this week as the Commission was given 14 days to conclude
its investigation and then submit its report. It is even being speculated that
the investigation would be completed this Friday, January 20, 2017.
Although
different people have expressed divergent opinions on what the outcome would
be, there are some who believe that it was not proper to predict the likely
outcome until the Commission completes its investigation. However, recent
developments show that the commission may not be able to conclude the
investigation within the first 14 days especially as about six witnesses that
had already filed their memorandum are yet to testify.
Collapsed
structure of Rune Reigners Bible Ministry, a new generation Church located on
KM 1, Uyo. Conclusion of investigation It was even gathered at the weekend that
the Commission has applied for extension of time even though the new date for
conclusion of investigation was not known at the time of filing this story.
The
Chief Medical Director of Anua General Hospital, Uyo, and other proprietors of
private hospitals in the state where the state government said casualties were
taken for treatment have been invited to testify.
This
is as a result of the lingering controversy over the conflicting casualty
figures. A human rights lawyer and counsel to the dead and injured victims,
Clifford Thomas, had last Friday applied to the Commission to issue summons to
proprietors of private medical facilities where the state government said some
of the casualties were admitted.
Thomas
made the application during the cross-examination of Commissioner for Health,
Dr. Dominic Ukpong, last Friday. The health commissioner in the memo or written
testimony submitted to the commission had put the casualty figure at 28. But
human rights and civil rights groups in the state had contested the figure.
Thomas demanded that private proprietors of
hospitals where the state government said some of the casualties were taken to
for treatment should be invited for cross examination.
He was
of the opinion that testimony of the doctors would help the panel ascertain the
‘true number of casualties’ and put an end to the conflicting figures given by
government and those by members of the public. But Dr Ukpong during the cross
examination had said: “The public is not necessarily the experts when it comes
to health matters. When there is mass casualties somebody in the public who has
not been trained in medics who looks at what happens will see many people
unconscious.
But an unconscious person can recover on the
road to the hospital, can recover 10, 15, 20 days after the accident. So, the
right person to give the correct figure is the person trained to be able to
certify and determine the person who is dead”. So far about 11 witnesses,
mostly those from the building profession that submitted their memorandum to
the Commission earlier, have testified.
Those
that have testified include the General Overseer of the collapsed Church and
principal witness, Apostle Akan Weeks; Nigeria Society of Engineers, NSE; Uyo
Capital City Development Authority, UCCDA; Chief Medical Director of University
of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Prof Etete Peters; Nigeria Institute of Building,
NIB; Nigeria Institute of Architects, NIA; Commissioner for Health, Dr. Dominic
Ukpong; Etido Ekerete Udoh, a staff of UCCDA and Fintel Safety Limited.
Meanwhile, the evidences given by Apostle Weeks and witness of UCCDA, Mr.
Effiong Akpan, Head of Development Control and Etido Ekerete Udoh (Chief
Clerical Officer) during cross-examination appear to have attracted a lot of
public attention and sparked fresh arguments among members of the public.
Effiong Akpan of UCCDA testified that the
Reigners Bible Church did not submit any building plan to them and that they
did not give any approval to the developer to go ahead with the building
construction.
He was
quick to conclude that: “The Reigners Bible church collapsed because due
process was not followed”, adding that the structure and others are located in
areas considered erosion-prone and designated as ‘Green Areas’ in 2000 by the
state government.
He
listed the affected locations within Uyo that the state government declared as
‘Forest Reserved Areas’ to include Ikot Ntuen Offot, Ekpri Nsukara, Tributaries
of Ikpa River (Idim Ikpa), Nduetong Oku, and even some aspects of the permanent
site of the University of Uyo.
The
UCCDA also said that was the reason on October 5, 2011 Weeks had applied to the
Land Use Allocation committee for the issuance of Certificate of Occupancy, C
of O, but he was not given.
But Weeks earlier in his testimony said he
submitted the building plan and other building documents to the UCCDA even as
he revealed that he only received verbal approval later from an official of
UCCDA, Etido Ekerete Udoh during a telephone conversation.
Weeks had also told the Commission that he
paid the sum of N300,000.00 as approval fee to secure some of the documents
required by the UCCDA, adding that he even submitted the survey plan and the
structural design to UCCDA office himself. Certificate of occupancy on his
part, Udoh who is also a pastor with Dunamis Church and staff of UCCDA,
testified that the time he was invited to meet with Weeks that the Church
construction was already above the lintel level.
He
also testified that the N300, 000.00 was for securing some documents for him
and not approval fee for the building plan.
The
money, according to him, was not also paid to the UCCDA but to him on personal
transaction. From this, it has become difficult to know who between Weeks and
UCCDA officials that are actually telling the truth pending the conclusion of
the Commission’s investigation.
Many
in the state, however, view evidences by Weeks and UCCDA during cross
examinations as embarrassing and confusing.
Some
even blamed the state government for lack of enforcement after it had declared
the areas unfit for construction of buildings. Accordingly, the Nigerian
Institute of Town Planners, Akwa Ibom State Chapter, Acting Chairman, Dr.
Beulah Ofem, had in a press statement in Uyo submitted thus: “It is pertinent
to state categorically that the collapsed church building site was not supposed
to have been developed as the area was exclusively declared a conservation area
which is erosion-prone. Medical needs of the affected persons “Thus we did not
expect professionals from the built environment to be involved in the
development of such a structure in that area without declassification and due
approval from the governor of the State”.
The institute, while appreciating government
for its prompt response and gesture in catering for the medical needs of the
affected persons of the church tragedy, added: “Available official records show
that the said development was carried out outside the ambit of the law as
several contravention and stop-work notices dated March 6, 2013, July 16, 2014,
March 1, 2016, July 20, 2016, and demolition marking /notice issued to the
developer of the project on August 16, 2016 were blatantly ignored.”
The Institute noted with sadness that the
project developer, some professionals in the built environment and building
artisans that participated in the development of the collapsed illegal
structure, were well aware that once a structure is marked “X” by the relevant
authority, it means stop work.
“However,
to forestall the re-occurrence of such incident in the state, the government
should: Urgently domesticate the 1992 Urban and Regional Planning Law which has
been lying unattended to in the Ministry of Justice since 2012, to provide the
needed legal framework for effective physical development control and
management in the state.
0 comments:
Post a Comment