Nigeria Content Online

The N850 million
banquet hall of the Nasarawa State House which was under construction
collapsed yesterday morning while a number of construction workers and
engineers on site watched helplessly. However, no life was lost in the
incident.

An eyewitness
reported that the iron rods and pillars used to prop up the building
gave way before the entire structure came crashing down. The collapse
of the 1000 seater capacity hall is the second state sponsored project
to have collapsed in the past two months.

In December, the N539 million water treatment plant also collapsed in its first test run.

The damage from
yesterday’s collapse affected the structural integrity of buildings
around the Government House including the Press Centre and security
post and a hotel some few meters away from the fence.

Residents and
workers as well as security men who were at the Government House gate,
adjoining the site of the disaster, ran in different direction, as the
collapse threw them into panic.

Emergency meeting

The governor and
the members of his cabinet were reported to be holding an emergency
meeting behind closed doors and as at press time none of them,
including the commissioner for Housing, Environment and Urban
Development, Muhammad Yamusa Chindo, was present at the site for an
immediate assessment of the degree of damage.

The contractor,
Shelter Development Ltd, was forced to mobilise the workers to begin
recovery, using the whole day to clear up the rubble.

The contract for the project was awarded last year, and the
contractor started the job in August after the foundation laying
ceremony by the state governor. He pledged that the work would be
delivered in three months, but after six months, the contractor was
only able to complete the erection of the collapsed pillars.