Two injured as new school building collapses

Residents of Ejigbo town in Osun State were on Wednesday woken up by the noise of the structure which collapsed at the newly completed Ejigbo High School.

Our correspondent gathered that part of the school which had been completed and ready for inauguration collapsed at around 5.30am.

Some persons were reportedly injured, but there was no death recorded as the structure had yet to be occupied by pupils.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola had on Tuesday at his campaign rally in Ede listed the new school as one of the most beautiful schools in the country.

The administration built the school following the introduction of school restructuring by the incumbent governor.

The Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Mr. Ayo Olowe, told our correspondent that the building collapsed around 5am.

The Police Public Relations Officer for the state, Mrs. Folasade Odoro, said the school building came down due to heavy wind.

She said that the preliminary investigation by the police revealed that the building collapsed following a heavy wind on Wednesday morning.

She said, “The building collapsed due to heavy wind which blew this morning. Two artisans laying tiles sustained injuries. They were treated and have been discharged.”

The governor, while reacting to the incident in a statement issued by his media aide, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, said, “The Government of the State of Osun regrets to inform members of the public about the suspect incidence of the collapse of the main hall of the newly completed ultra-modern Ejigbo High School.

“Information at the disposal of the government indicates that the main hall which had been completed along with other classrooms of the school came down at about 6am Wednesday after a loud bang.

“As a responsible government, it is too early for us to say what the exact cause of the collapse is until we have full investigations and advice of professionals.

“However, it must be stated here that all necessary quality assurance tests were carried out to ensure structural durability and integrity of the project.

“Engineers from the Osun Ministry of Works and engineers from the Structural Engineering section of the Nigerian Society of Engineers have been dispatched to the site to establish the real cause of this unfortunate incident.”

The Commissioner for Information, Mr. Sunday Akere, had earlier in a telephone interview with our correspondent blamed the collapse on sabotage.

He said that some residents of the town claimed that low calibre explosive was used to blow up part of the structure.

The Director of publicity, Research and Strategy of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, accused the Peoples Democratic Party of being behind the collapse.

He said, “I can tell you this categorically that the PDP sabotaged the structure. Investigation is going on.”

But the Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Bola Ajao, denied the allegation. He said it was unfortunate that the school building collapsed.

Ajao said, “They are driven by what they will gain from everything. They used substandard products and now they are blaming it on PDP.”