13th July, 2024
Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang has lamented the lack of structural integrity of the collapsed structure at the Saint Academy, Busa Buji, Jos North Local Government Area of the state.
Mutfwang who was conducting an on-the-spot assessment of the situation on Saturday, ordered the immediate closure of the school.
A structure in the school, which has 284 Secondary students and 145 Primary pupils, collapsed on Friday morning killing 22 persons and leaving 154 others injured.
The Plateau helmsman who commiserated with the families of the victims, said: ” Whoever built this school, did not do well. I am not a technical person but all I can see on this debris is sand. It is a two-storey building as a layman, I know there has to be a proper mixture of sand and cement but what I can see here is pure sand.
“You have endangered the lives of innocent children for no reason. We can’t continue like this, it is no longer time to spend time praying against demons and Satan, this is human negligence.
“We cannot allow this school to function for the parents, it is unfortunate what has happened but what it means is that this school is closed down immediately.
“We can’t take any further chances and we need to send this message particularly the owners of private schools the drive for profit must not overshadow the safety of lives so we taking steps immediately to do a technical audit of all the schools. We will test their structural integrity to ensure human beings can habit such buildings.”
Adding Mutfwang said: “Some buildings were not built in the right places, some built without approvals, without the right materials. so, we will correct these things. I won’t just blame the school but also our public officials who were supposed to supervise but didn’t do their jobs.
“We are setting up a committee to investigate this incident and bring in building professionals to investigate this and anyone found culpable will face the wrath of the law. This is why we signed Executive Order 003 to bring sanity into the environment.
“When we insist that some building be demolished, we are not wicked, we are concerned about the safety of lives. When we see buildings on waterways, in marshy places, we will bring them down. We can’t afford to have this kind of mishap again. May God grant the parents of the deceased the fortitude to bear the loss and grant the injured a quick recovery.”
