Scores of students and staff of Agbado District Comprehensive High School in Ifo council area of Ogun State escaped deaths by hairsbreadth when a storey building of about 20 classrooms collapsed.
The building collapsed on Saturday afternoon during several hours of ceaseless downpour.
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The students and the teachers had made a lucky escape as the incident occurred at the weekend and not during school hours.
Several “SOSs” sent to the Ogun State Government particularly the Ministry of Physical Planning were not responded to.
According to investigations, the massive classroom project initiated by Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello more than 15 years had been plagued by structural problems.
A staff of the school described the building as a calamity waiting to happen and finally happened as it had posed a serious threat to the lives of students and staff.
“The school building collapsed on Saturday. I witnessed it. It happened when it was raining. The building had been there for more than 15 years and was plagued with structural issues.
“We all knew it would give way one day, but the authorities did nothing about it. Thank God, no lives were lost. This would have been a disaster if it had happened during the weekdays,” a visitor to the school said.
Commenting on the incident, the President of the school’s old students association, Mr Ganiyu Olowu, said: “The collapsed building is a disaster foreseen.
As stakeholders working with the state government to ensure holistic education across the state, we drew the attention of the former commissioner to the alarming state of the building.
“We were assured that a team would be sent to inspect the site and when they visited no action was taken on this massive classroom project initiated by Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello many years ago.
“As we speak, there are parts of the collapsed building that can cause more havoc when students are around.”
Source
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
