Edo to probe church building collapse

The collapsed building.

The Edo State Government has said that it would investigate the cause of last Friday’s building collapse in the Egor Local Government Area of the state.

The incident claimed at least one life and left no fewer than two persons injured.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole said this during a visit to the scene of the incident.

The building owned by the Christ Chosen Church of God was said to have caved in while some persons hired by the church were carrying a demolition.

Some angry youths in the area burnt one of the church vehicles and vandalized its property following what they alleged as the delay of the management of the church to carry out rescue operations.

But the governor urged the families of the victims and residents of the area to exercise patience and not take the law into their hands. He assured them that government would thoroughly investigate and punish anyone found culpable.

Oshiomhole said, “The church is under the law. Pastors are under the law. Church goers are under the law. Therefore, we must be mindful that the same law also said that in a situation such as this, the only reasonable thing to do is to save lives.”

“Therefore, nobody should take laws into their hands by thinking that somebody plans to kill anybody. Somebody could have taken a wrong decision or done the wrong calculation.

“But no matter what anybody has done, government will take the necessary steps by carrying out a thorough investigation with a view to establishing if anyone is guilty or involved in criminal negligence and if there is, such a person would be prosecuted according to the law.”

While explaining that government had the duty to protect the lives and property of its citizen, the governor assured the people that his administration would not spare anyone found culpable in the tragedy.

Oshiomhole also commended the Edo State Command of the Nigeria Police for “responding promptly” and acting “very reasonably” to ensure that further mayhem was averted.

“I also believe the police have acted very reasonably and responded promptly. The mobilization of various construction companies to save lives of those trapped is quite commendable too.

“My appeal to you all is that even as painful as it is, we should avoid anything that would compound the problem as government will certainly investigate what happened and if anybody is involved in criminal negligence, he or she will not be spared,” he said.

Meanwhile, when our correspondent visited the church auditorium, where the incident occurred, at about 10.05am on Sunday, it was under lock and key. Some church items such as musical instruments allegedly damaged by the angry youths could also be seen.

Although normal service was held at the headquarters of the church, the Spiritual Leader/General Overseer of the church, Most Senior Apostle Joshua Osasuyi, was absent.

Efforts to obtain a formal statement from one of the church clerics also proved abortive.

“You are from where? The PUNCH? Okay. Only the G. O. can speak to you on that matter. You can see him in his office on Monday,” he said.

PUNCH