A member of the planning committee of annual anniversary of Penpushing Media, Oluwaseun Sodiya, has been reported dead in the building collapse which occurred on Monday at Ajuwon town, located in Ifo local government area of Ogun State
Sodiya was killed alongside her daughter in the collapsed structure, which housed two shops on the ground floor and residential apartments above, situated at the OGS Bus Stop, Baale Road, Ajuwon, a border community between Ogun and Lagos states.
The deceased a Senior Nursing Sister with Ogun State Hospital Management was rushing out from the building with her two children when the building started giving a crack sound, but got trapped, while her son narrowly escaped.
Both mother and daughter corpses were recovered from the debris the following day and their remains deposited at the morgue of General Hospital, Ifo, where she once worked.
The family in a burial arrangement made available on Thursday said the 45-year-old mother and her daughter will be buried on Friday by 11am at Akorede area, off Onipetesi Meji bus stop, Ajilete town of Ogun State
Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has directed a full-scale investigation into the collapse, adding that preliminary findings by a multi-agency investigation team indicated that the building suffered catastrophic structural failure.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Information and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, added that the structural failure caused the lower floors to sink into the ground while only parts of the upper slab remained visible above the rubble.
Akinmade said eyewitnesses reported that the building collapsed around 3pm, shortly after a downpour accompanied by thunderstorms and a reported lightning strike.
The Special Adviser said the emergency responders, including officials of the Ogun State Safety Office, State Fire Service, Ministries of Environment, Physical Planning and Urban Development, Works and Infrastructure, the Nigeria Police Force and the Ifo Local Government Water and Environmental Sanitation Department, immediately mobilised to the scene.
He pointed out that contractors working on projects within the Akute-Alagbole and Agbado axis deployed heavy equipment less than 10 minutes after the incident to aid rescue efforts.
The government said that while the heavy rainfall preceded the collapse, only detailed structural, geotechnical and forensic engineering investigations would determine whether the incident resulted from foundation defects, soil instability, construction flaws, the use of substandard materials or other underlying factors.
Akinmade said the Governor had directed experts from the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Ogun State Building Control Agency, Building Production Management and Material Testing Agency and other relevant bodies to conduct comprehensive structural, soil and material assessments, as well as inspect adjoining buildings for possible compromise.
The statement added that the governor assured affected residents of government support and warned that anyone found to have violated building regulations, deviated from approved plans or compromised construction standards would face prosecution.
Ogun State government appreciated the Lagos State Government for its swift intervention, describing the collaboration as a demonstration of the strong partnership between both states in protecting lives and property.
The statement stated that Ogun State Government reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening the enforcement of physical planning regulations and urged developers, builders and residents to obtain all statutory approvals and strictly adhere to approved building plans and construction standards to avert similar tragedies.
The management, editorial board and planning committee of Penpushing Media have lamented the loss of Sodiya, who was described as a committed and proactive member of the platform.
The Chairman, Editorial Board of Penpushing Media, Deaconess Olufunke Fadugba, pointed out that her death will no doubt have massive impact on all who knew her, particularly her surviving son
‘Oh! What a sad development? The news of the collapsed building seemed so far not knowing the one involved was so near. May God grant her and the daughter eternal rest’, Fadugba wrote
‘Seun’s death will no doubt have massive impact on all who knew her, particularly her son. The son, according to reports escaped by whiskers as he ran faster out of the house before the collapse. Seun’s son may have to feel her mother’s death more, as she had more or less been struggling almost single-handedly to cater for her children’, the chairman said.
