Phil Hallmark, the biggest shopping mall in Benin, Edo State, razed down completely, by a fire that started around 3a.m today.
I Can Authoritatively Confirm To you the goods in that shopping mall is worth more than half a billion naira
More Information Coming Soon…
The Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, narrowly escaped death on Saturday as the building of Reigners’ Bible Church Int’l Inc, along Uyo Village Road, Uyo, the state capital, collapsed during service.
See Graphic Photos Below
The incident left about 200 worshippers dead. Sources said it took the efforts of the governor’s security officers to whisk him away to safety. He was said to have sustained a minor injury.
The governor was in the church attending the ordination of the church’s Presiding Pastor, Bishop Elect Akan Weeks, when the building gave way few minutes before offering period.
One of the aides, who rescued the governor, was said to have died at a nearby hospital where he was rushed to.
A security officer, who did not want to be named, said many dignitaries who accompanied the governor to the church also died.
It was gathered that the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Etekamba Umoren, also shattered his head in the incident. He was said to have been taken to an undisclosed hospital in the state.
SUNDAY PUNCH learnt that the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ekerette Udoh, also sustained serious injury.
It was gathered that construction works on a section where the ordination held were rushed because of Saturday’s event. The church has an estimated 10,000-seater capacity. Two cranes belonging to construction giant, Julius Berger, were used to clear the debris.
Mrs. Yenime Ekpo, who is a mother to one of the victims, Tony Brown, 46 with six children, said they were worshiping in the church when the building collapsed.
She stated that Brown was trapped in the rubble for many hours along with others before she was rescued.
Also, a student of the University of Uyo, Department of Communication Arts, Uduak Effiong, said she lost three of her course mates to the incident.
She stated that when the building collapsed, a pillar fell upon a woman and tore her body.
He said about 200 persons were brought to the hospital dead, adding that the hospital had never prepared for such an emergency.
He said, “We only lost one person in the hospital except those that were brought dead. In circumstances like this, we have been overwhelmed. We need help from government.
“Many victims are in private hospitals and mortuaries scattered all over Uyo metropolis; we can’t really tell how many people have died so far. We have over 200 persons in the mortuaries. We do not have space as people are still being brought in.’’
“We have done our best to revive some victims. Right now, we have over 50 cases we are attending to. This is the first time we are witnessing such an incident.’’
She said, “I saw over 100 dead bodies. These were the ones close to me. From my estimation, more than 300 people might have died as people came from other churches in all parts of the state, including government-sponsored praised singers with uniforms to attend the programme. For some of us that escaped, we only did by the special grace of God.”
Another student of the University of Uyo, Jennifer Thomas, told our correspondent that one of her friends, Blessing Linus, was trapped in the debris.
The Chief Medical Director of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Prof. Etete Peters, said of the 50 cases treated in the treatment, only one person died.
In its reaction, the state government said a panel of enquiry would be constituted to ascertain the immediate and remote factors leading to the collapse of the church building with a view to forestall a reoccurrence.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary also noted that persons found to have compromised professional standards in the construction of the building would be sanctioned.
It added, ‘‘His Excellency, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, was present at the church service during the incident and thereafter personally supervised rescue operations and evacuation of the injured to the hospital. The state government will undertake the medical treatment of the victims.’’
Culled from Punch
UPDATE!!!Akwa Ibom state government releases statement on church building collapse
The Government of Akwa Ibom State has commiserated with the families of victims of a collapsed building at Reigners Bible Church International along Uyo Village road.
His Excellency, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr Udom Emmanuel was present at the church service during the incident and thereafter personally supervised rescue operations and evacuation of the injured to the hospital. The State Government will undertake the medical treatment of the victims.
A high- Powered panel of enquiry is being constituted to ascertain the immediate and remote factors leading to the collapse of the church building with a view to forestall the re-occurrence of such incident and bring to book persons found to have compromised professional standards in the construction of the building.
In the meantime, The Government of Akwa Ibom State is appealing to citizens of the state to remain calm,pray for those injured and avoid undue speculation as the situation is being given the best possible attention.
Signed:
Chief Press Secretary
At least 90+ people have been killed after a church building collapsed in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State in southern Nigeria.
The Governor of the State, Mr Udom Emmanuel, who was attending the service at the Reighers Bible Church narrowly escaped death.
More Details to come.
Meanwhile, see the photos:
UPDATE:
At Least 90 People Killed, After Church Collapses In Uyo, Akwa-Ibom.
A church building has collapsed in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, with 90 people feared dead. The Reigners Bible Church was filled to capacity because its pastor was being consecrated as a Bishop, when the tragedy occurred, witnesses said. .
“Pastor Akan Week was being consecrated today so the programme was holding inside the Church when suddenly, the whole building collapsed,” one witness said. The witness said the Church was being renovated and upgraded because of the expected high number of guests on Saturday. .
“Many people are buried under the debris as emergency workers continue rescue exercise,” he said. Governor Udom Emmanuel was expected to attend the occasion, but, sources said he was not at the church when it collapsed. .
Many victims have been taken to various hospitals and mortuaries in the town. A police spokesperson who sounded emotional when contacted by phone, said she could not speak on the matter immediately. “You need to be here to witness it, there is so much confusion,” she simply said.
Governor Emmanuel Udom Escaped death by the whiskers today at the Reigners Church as he was steathily whisked out of the premises by his security personnel. The building collapsed and killed atleast 90 worshipers with many others trapped in the rubble.
The Governor was at the venue of the incident attending the consecration of Pastor Akan Weeks as a Bishop on Saturday, when the church building collapsed.
The Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Etekamba Umoren, was said to have sustained an injury and was taken to an undisclosed hospital in the state. It was also gathered that the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ekerette Udoh was also injured in the tragedy.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Murtala Mani, who confirmed the incident, said he could not ascertain the number of those dead or trapped in the building.
“I don’t know how many people have died from the collapsed building or those trapped,” he said.
According to Channels Tv, an eyewitness said they were already inside the building when they noticed that the upper part of the building was caving in.
“We saw the building coming down and everybody started running for safety,” she said. Governor, who escaped death, said a panel would be setup to investigate the incident.
According to him, many worshipers are in critical condition
“Accessing this in the face of somebody who is not an engineer, we see a lot of defects in the construction. We will try as much as possible to bring those who were careless about this to book.
“I will make contact immediately both the Nigerian Society of Engineers and a team of engineers here in Akwa Ibom to assess whether there were pure negligence on the part of those that did this,” Governor Emmanuel told reporters.
He said it was a devastating incident, wondering why it should happen at this time.
“Actually, it is not a good thing and we are really devastated that this could happen.
“Be rest assured on the part of government, we will do everything possible to make sure that this will never happen again in this state,” he added.
The number of persons killed in the incident have not been confirmed by any agency. After the building came down, rescue operations were launched to remove the debris.
In an interview with the Guardian, Arsenal youngster and Super Eagles player, Alex Iwobi, said he was shocked by his reception when he arrived to play for Nigeria and says supporters in the African country are more likely to ask for football boots and money, rather than autographs.
“Everyone appreciates you [in Nigeria], you’re almost like a king!” he told the Guardian. “When I arrived at the airport I thought, I’ll just have my earphones in, but everyone was like ‘Iwobi! Iwobi!’ Oh gosh. Hi guys!
“I didn’t know what to expect. It was just mad. I always go with Kelechi Iheanacho. When we go we get escorted. Because I’m not used to the Nigerian culture as much as they are, they do help me with it. They help me with the fans. .
The fans are very different there. They don’t ask me for autographs, they ask for boots, money. At my debut we played in a stadium that holds 30,000 and there was 60,000 – I don’t understand how. .
People were standing on the floodlights, on the scoreboard,” he added. “I was thinking, ‘What? This isn’t even safe! But people there will do anything to watch the match. .
Sometimes in a Premier League game the fans are a bit quiet but in Nigeria you just hear trumpets, everything. The atmosphere is so different compared to England.”
These are the photos of a woman that have taken over social media recently. At first glance one would think the photos are those of a young lady showing off on Instagram.
But closer investigation shows that the photos are those of a 63-year-old woman.
Identified as Bo Talley,the old woman, a grandmother, has managed to stay looking this young because she looks after herself and is passionate about health and fitness.
Bo Talley is reportedly a Entertainment Manager and has her own Special Events Company.
See more photos of her below:
She describes herself as restless and versatile, and those close to her could not agree less. However, true love, according to Yoruba language actress, Tayo Sobola, aka ‘Soyato’, exists only in the dictionary.
The actress gave the order in an interview with The Nation. When asked about the ring on her finger, she said:
“I’m engaged. And that you need to know.”
Asked about her definition of love, she said:
“I don’t know anything called love. I sha know it’s in the dictionary. There’s no love anywhere. Love is L.O.V.E. That’s all I know.”
When asked about what attracted her to her fiancé, she said:
“Abeg leave that thing, them dey sell ring na. If the man misbehaves, you sell the ring, chop the money and walk away. Ladies should stop receiving cheap rings. Receive the one you can sell when the man messes up.”
