President Bola Tinubu receives the news of the tragic collapse of a school building, which resulted in multiple deaths and many surviving victims in Jos, Plateau State, with profound grief.

President Tinubu describes the unfortunate incident as a huge loss to the nation, as well as a devastating development - too excruciating to imagine.

The President condoles with the bereaved families, families of all the victims, and the people and Government of Plateau State.

President Tinubu commends emergency responders, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), security agencies, and all citizens involved in the search, rescue, and resuscitation efforts.

The President assures the people of Plateau State of his fervent support at this difficult time.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang visited the collapsed structure at Saint Academy in Busa Buji, Jos North local government area for an on-the-spot assessment and ordered the immediate closure of the school.

The school had 284 secondary students and 145 primary pupils. The structure collapsed on Friday morning, resulting in the deaths of 22 people and injuring 154 others.

By Friday evening, statistics showed that 154 people had been rescued from the debris, with 22 confirmed dead and 132 hospitalized. Injured students and staff are receiving medical treatment at various hospitals in Jos, the state capital.

Specifically, 39 of the injured are at Plateau State Specialist Hospital, 32 at Our Lady of Apostles (OLA) Hospital, 55 at Bingham University Teaching Hospital, and six at Jos University Teaching Hospital.

During his visit to the site on Saturday morning, Mutfwang also expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased children and promised that the state government would cover the medical costs for the injured students.

He said, “… Whoever built this school, did not do well. I am not a technical person but all I can see on this debris is sand. It is a two-storey building as a layman, I know there has to be a proper mixture of sand and cement but what I can see here is pure sand.

“You have endangered the lives of innocent children for no reason. We can’t continue like this, it is no longer time to spend time praying against demons and Satan, this is human negligence.

“We cannot allow this school to function for the parents, it is unfortunate what has happened but what it means is that this school is closed down immediately.

“We can’t take any further chances and we need to send this message particularly the owners of private schools the drive for profit must not overshadow the safety of lives so we taking steps immediately to do a technical audit of all the schools. We will test their structural integrity to ensure human beings can habit such buildings.”

He added, “Some buildings were not built in the right places, some built without approvals, without the right materials so we will correct these things. I won’t just blame the school but also our public officials who were supposed to supervise but didn’t do their jobs.

“We are setting up a committee to investigate this incident and bring in building professionals to investigate this and anyone found culpable will face the wrath of the law. This is why we signed Executive Order 003 to bring sanity into the environment.

“When we insist that some building be demolished, we are not wicked, we are concerned about the safety of lives. When we see buildings on waterways, in marshy places, we will bring them down. We can’t afford to have this kind of mishap again. May God grant the parents of the deceased the fortitude to bear the loss and grant the injured a quick recovery.”

He commended the efforts of all stakeholders in the rescue mission and asked that citizens do the right things and obey rules and regulations put in place to save lives.

A victim of the collapsed two-storey building in the Kubwa area of Abuja has shared his harrowing experience. The building at Plot C31, Sultan Dasuki Road collapsed on Saturday morning.

The last victim rescued, a corps member, was found unconscious under the rubble by officials from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), FCT Emergency Management Department (FEM), FCT Fire Service, Federal Road Safety Corps, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the Nigeria Police Force. The corps member was promptly transported to the Kubwa General Hospital. 

Two other victims, Abdullahi Masud and his female guest, had managed to escape before the collapse and were also taken to the hospital. Masud recounted his ordeal, stating that a neighbour had previously pointed out a cracked wall near the staircase.

“I later noticed an unfamiliar sound from several parts of the building while I was bathing in the morning. I managed to run out naked. I learned that other people could escape, too, leaving only one lady stranded at the time. While in the hospital, my girlfriend was brought too,” Masud said.

Another resident, who remained anonymous, said, “I heard a rumbling sound around 7 am. I thought it was from my next compound, only for me to rush here, and I hear the commotion. So I went to the front and saw that the building had collapsed. They have been trying to rescue people. FEMA is around. Fire service is also around. They have rescued some people. They are still trying to rescue more people. There are people still trapped inside.”

Mrs. Florence Dawon Wenegieme, the Acting Director General of FEMD, was at the scene and confirmed that the search and rescue efforts would continue until they reached ground zero.

This incident follows a recent school collapse in Jos, Plateau state, which killed at least 22 people and injured over 100.

A section of a two-storey residential apartment collapsed in Abuja on Saturday morning, with several people trapped in the rubble.

While emergency responders and security personnel were on ground, rescue efforts were hampered as the cranes needed for the rescue were yet to arrive as of 8:45 am, nearly two hours after the incident.

Vanguard gathered that two persons had, however, been rushed to a nearby hospital, while a few others escaped on their own.

One of the escapees who did not want to reveal her identity said that when she woke up around 7 a.m. and came out of the house, she began hearing some cracks and then ran out.

Details later…

[Vanguard]