Niger Government to Prosecutes Owners of Collapse building in Minna – Says DG NUDB.
By Bala Yahaya Minna.
Seven days after the collapsed of two storey building in Sabon Gwari area in Minna, the Niger State Capital,the Niger State Urban Development Board(NUDB), in collaboration with Niger State Emergency Management Agency(NSEMA), and National Emergency Management Agency NEMA,had jointly coordinated the demolition of the remaining part of the collapsed building.
Speaking to Newsmen while supervising the demolition exercise,the Director General of NUDB, Abdulrahman Jimada disclosed that the board had invited the owner of the collapsed building for discussion, noting that after the meeting,the board may likely prosecute him for failure to abide by the laid down rules and regulations of the board.
“In recent days,the board had pulled down 3-5 houses that falled below the building standard in Minna city,and will continue in other parts of the state,adding that the exercise is continuing.”D.G said.
According to D.G, when the building collapsed last Friday 17th May,2024,no body died inside the building,pointing out that we only had seven casualties and they were promptly rescued and have been treated and discharged from the hospital.
NUDB boss reiterated that the board would not spare any one that violet the laid down rules and regulations of building construction.
“In terms of demolition,you don’t just rush to some ones property, there were procedures to follow, therefore,you have to do all you could, before embarking on the demolition”.
“When we talked of new Niger,we talked of new board, therefore,we are no going to spare any one who breached the order of the board”he added.
Earlier,the Director General, Niger State Emergency Management Agency,(NSEMA), Abdullahi Baba Arah, hinted that the agency in conjunction with other relevant agencies would always try to be on top of the situation to examining the general situation of things,hence the need to put stringent measures on the offenders of buildings that fall below the rules and regulations.
It was learnt that the collapsed building was constructed since 1976 over four decades.