The Anambra State Government has constituted a high-powered investigation panel to determine the cause of the collapse of a private student hostel near the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, which has claimed at least two lives, while fears remain that more occupants may still be trapped beneath the rubble.

The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Chijioke Ojukwu, disclosed this on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, saying the panel has been mandated to establish the immediate and remote causes of the tragedy and recommend measures to prevent similar incidents.

According to him, the committee is made up of presidents and secretaries of professional bodies in the building industry in Anambra State, including engineers, architects, builders, town planners, officials of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, and representatives of the Anambra State Materials Testing Laboratory.

Ojukwu said the panel’s primary responsibility is to determine the exact cause of the collapse and eliminate speculation surrounding the incident.

“The core of their mandate will be to investigate the root cause of the collapse of the building so we wouldn’t be speculating,” he said.

He added that the investigation would extend beyond the collapsed structure to other buildings in the surrounding area following reports from residents identifying structures suspected to have similar structural defects.

“Since the incident, members of the public have been sending in actionable intelligence pointing to other buildings which they suspect may suffer the same defect. Sequel to that, we have constituted an investigation panel populated by chairmen and secretaries of all the professional bodies in the building industry.

“We will extend the scope of the investigation to other buildings within the proximity of the collapsed structure, including those we have received intelligence about,” the commissioner stated.

Ojukwu said the state government would prosecute anyone found culpable for the incident, warning that negligence in the construction sector would no longer be tolerated.

“We will also be prosecuting anybody indicted as having taken part in this unfortunate incident. We will equally recommend that the state revokes, henceforth, any land housing a building that collapses within the state,” he said.

According to him, the proposed sanctions are intended to serve as a deterrent and reinforce strict compliance with building regulations across the state.

The commissioner alleged that preliminary findings indicated the management of the hostel was aware of structural defects in the building before it collapsed but failed to evacuate residents.

“We understand from our preliminary investigations that the building had some structural defects to the knowledge of the management, but unfortunately the management placed pecuniary interest above the safety of the occupants.

“A reasonable course of action would have been to evacuate the building and notify the authorities for it to be pulled down. Instead, the management continued to accommodate tenants and collect rent from them,” he said.
He further disclosed that the government would conduct comprehensive structural integrity tests on buildings within the area and demolish any structure found to be unsafe.

Ojukwu confirmed that two bodies had so far been recovered from the rubble but noted that authorities were concerned that additional victims could still be trapped, as not all occupants of the hostel had been accounted for.

He said investigators were yet to establish the identity of the owner of the collapsed building, explaining that residents told officials they dealt only with the hostel’s management.

According to him, attempts to reach the management since the incident have been unsuccessful, prompting the government to involve security agencies.

“From what we know, occupants of the building said they have only been dealing with the management of the building and we have gotten the details and phone numbers. We understand that since the incident, the phone numbers of the management have not been going through. We have forwarded details of their contacts to the police authorities,” he said.

The commissioner added that the state government is working with the police to track down those responsible and ensure that anyone found culpable is brought to justice.

The collapsed three-storey structure, identified as Elite Five Star Lodge, reportedly caved in late Sunday night near Tonimas Filling Station in the Oko Polytechnic community, triggering panic among students and residents.

Witnesses said cries for help could be heard from beneath the rubble shortly after the collapse.

Emergency responders, including personnel of the Anambra State Police Command, Anambra State Fire Service, Anambra State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), and other security agencies, were deployed to the scene and have continued search and rescue operations as authorities work to account for all occupants.