Saidu Dauda, a 24 year-old national of Niger Republic had come to Nigeria in search of greener pastures. The precarious economic situation and the long drought that devastated farms and livestock had forced a lot of young people to leave the country.
Dauda might have heard about the opportunities in Nigeria and decided to join his friends, who knew how to make their way into the country without permit. He was full of hope that life would be better on this side of the boarder. Although he had no requisite skill, he might have heard that in Nigeria, skill is not the yardstick for getting a job, especially in construction sites. Perhaps, his ability to speak Hausa Language which is used in most parts of Northern Nigeria provided the opportunity for him and his friends to cross into the porous borders of Nigeria and took residence in one of the sprouting shanties in the Federal Housing Authority’s estate in Gwarinpa, Abuja.
Nobody could tell how long Dauda had lived and worked in Abuja but the story of his struggling life was terminated on Saturday, January 28, 2012. His mangled body was the last to be recovered from the rubbles of a collapsed two-storey building where he and others were hired to demolish. But neither Dauda nor his colleagues had the skill and equipment to bring down the two-storey building.
His young friend and countryman, Ayuba Idris said they were hired to bring down a block of flats at the Naval Quarters, located at 45 Road, off 1st Avenue in the sprawling Gwarinpa Estate. For four days, Idris said they had labored, hit and pounded, dug and pulled at the building with simple tools like harmer, chisel, shovel and digger.?
Standing close to him, one could see his body shaking as he watched with rapt attention as rescue workers cut pieces of iron and break stones in search of his friend and countryman, Dauda who was still trapped under the rubbles of the collapsed building.
His mouth vibrated as he muttered prayers in Arabic while his misty eyes darted here and there as if he could command Dauda to appear. Just then, the heavy machines that were roaring angrily and pulling at blocks and rods stopped. There was a moment of silence as rescue officials peeped and poked at the openings made into the rubbles. The officials pointed flashlights into the dark underbelly of the building and suddenly came out with their faces wearing glimmer of hope. Finally, they had found the remains of the last victim trapped under the rubbles.
Idris pushed and shoved until he got close to where the rescue workers were painstakingly pulling out stones and rods. He knelt down and peeped and when he saw the lifeless leg of his friend jutting out of the debris, he cried and tears ran freely down his check.
“We sleep together and work together,” he stammered. “We have been working here during the last four days. We left the house this morning together to continue from where we stopped yesterday. As we were working, suddenly, the whole building started swaying from side to side and then there was a loud noise.” He swallowed hard, twisted his fingers as if trying to break them before he spoke again.
“I didn’t know what happened. I was confused as dust covered the little space that was left of the building. I waited a little while for the dust to clear and then jumped out through one of the windows. Four of us escaped through that window but others were trapped inside. Dauda was one of them.”
It took about five hours for rescue workers to bring out all those who were trapped inside the collapsed building. The operations stopped shortly after Dauda, was brought out at 5. 48pm.
But while the operations were on-going, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Bala Mohammed led some senior officials of the ministry to the site of the accident. After rescue officials showed him round the building, he sympathized with victims of the accident and promised that the FCT administration would investigate the matter. The FCT Police Commissioner, Mr. Mike Zuokumor also visited the scene of the accident and commiserated with the victims.?????
Speaking on the incident, Labaran Aman, Head of the Abuja Rescue Mission of the Nigeria Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said the agency received report of the collapsed building at about 11 am and immediately deployed its staff to the site.
He said, “We learnt that some labourers were trying to bring down a building and it collapsed on them. I don’t know why they had to bring down the building but our mission was just to rescue people trapped inside the structure. We came as soon as we receive the report. We contacted our officers who live in Kubwa and Gwarinpa and asked them to get to the scene and report on the nature of the accident. As soon as they reported back, we mobilized heavy equipment from Julius Berger, FCT Development Control office and other construction companies; to assist us.”
He explained that the rescue operation was coordinated by NEMA but included operatives of the FCT Fire Service, the Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and others.
He said, “As soon as we arrived, we formed what we call the “Golden Triangle.” It consists of a senior staff of the Fire Service, a structural engineer and a medical doctor. We started excavating immediately but unfortunately, we discovered that the lives of the victims could be endangered if we continue to work with the heavy equipment. At that time, one of the victims was talking to us from the rubbles. We were shouting so that he would hear us and that is the right thing to do. Talking to him kept him alive. Some of our operatives and firemen took a little risk and went under the wreckage using light equipment to cut their way through to bring him out. He was brought out alive and was immediately attended to by some of the medical doctors and paramedics who were around before he was rushed to the hospital.
Continuing, Aman said, “We learnt that seven persons were affected. One was brought out dead. Four were brought out alive and taken to Wuse General Hospital and another one was critically injured when he was brought out. Based on the information we have from some of the labourers here, one person is still trapped under the rubles,” and that was Dauda.
When contacted, Tunde Ipinmisho, Head of Corporate Communications at the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) described the incident as unfortunate but noted that the authority did not approve the demolition of the ill-fated building.
Ipinmisho said, “The two-storey building belonged to the Nigerian Navy. They started demolition without the requisite approval from the Federal Housing Authority.? When our development control personnel noticed the demolition, they issued a ‘Stop Work Order,’ which they naval authority ignored. Those who were hired to demolish the building started by bringing down very critical columns from the ground floor and the building yielded and collapsed on them.”
The FHA spokesman insisted that the law provided that no property owner should carry out any form of alteration on a building in the estate without obtaining a written approval from the authority.? Before granting approval for any amendment to its building, he said the FHA would take into account, the caliber of professionals who would handle the job and type of machines to be deployed.?
But in the case of the building in question, he said the Naval authority “did not write to the FHA to seek an approval to carry out any action on the property and so when we found out, we issued a stop work order which they ignored. They had started the demolition but we issued the ‘Stop Work Order’ on Thursday but perhaps, they took advantage of the weekend and continued the illegal demolition. We want to appeal that people should allow agencies of government to carry out their statutory responsibilities without let or hindrance. It wouldn’t take a millennium to give the approval. Within a week, the relevant approval could have been given and this kind of tragedy could have been avoided.”
While inspecting parts of the building, it was found that the FHA had directed that the demolition work should be stopped. Using a red paint, the authority had clearly marked, “XX STOP WORK. FHA/TP 22.01.2012 XXX.”
Perhaps, if the Naval authority had heeded the directive of the FHA, the disaster could have been averted. A woman who gave her name simply as Florence had lamented that security operatives in the country do not believe in the rule of law. She wondered why the Naval authority could go ahead to demolish the building, using unskilled youths and against the order of a legitimate agency of the government. She said, “This could have been averted if they did not flaut the order given by the FHA. In Nigeria, the law is meant to be obeyed by people except the security operatives.”
While many have argued that the building in question lacked structural integrity and that might have accounted for the need to demolish it, Aman, however, cautioned property owners to always take adequate safety measures when on site.
He said, “We want to appeal to those who carry out this kind of operation to take the necessary safety precautions to avoid this kind of tragedy.”
In all, Dauda and his other colleague who died inside the wreckage have lost the battle to earn a living through their crude skill. Nobody knows the fate of the wives and children they left back in Niger Republic. What a painful and sad way to die.