Two children lost their lives after the fence of a school, Covenant Point Academy, collapsed on them in Amukoko area of Lagos State.
The victims are a boy, Samat Saheed, and a nine-year-old girl.
According to residents, the school fence collapsed on the children, instantly crushing them to death.
The boy’s head was said to been crushed by the fence on impact, while the girl lost consciousness immediately and died afterward.
A witness Akinniyi Akinwale, also added that the police were called to come and handle the situation, which led to the arrest of the owner of the school.
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“They just stacked blocks. There was no wiring, no pillar, and nothing to hold the building together. That’s why it fell easily,” residents said.
“The boy, Samat, was buried the same day following Islamic rights.”
“The wall in front of the school just fell on both of them. The girl who died was sent on an errand to that street, so no one knew her parents there but she was taken to the hospital after the incident and it wasn’t until night time when her parents started looking for her that they were informed of her death.”
Reacting to the incident, a former president of Nigerian Institute of Building, Kunle Awobodu, said blocks used to construct buildings nowadays were very weak and substandard as he urged site engineers, developers, among others to desist from using substandard materials.
“This is quite unfortunate. Those of us in the construction industry have laid emphasis on the threat of natural force or pressure on buildings, to withstand such natural pressure especially in an area that is exposed to strong winds, there is a need to introduce columns,” he said.
“Pillars are referred to as reinforced columns to enable fences to withstand the natural force being generated by the wind. Constructing coping is necessary on top of these fences so that persistent rainfall does not have an extreme impact on the stability of the fence.
“Many of the blocks used to construct buildings nowadays are very weak and substandard; they are usually six inches and 150ml in thickness which is unable to withstand wind pressure that makes it important for all of us to be more vigilant.”
On his part, the Lagos police spokesman, Benjamin Hundeyin disclosed to the press that two suspects have been arrested.
“The owner of the school and one more person have been arrested and will be transferred to the state CIID, Panti, for discreet investigation and prosecution,” Hundeyin said.
The occurrence of collapsed structures has been a worrisome issue across the country recently.