Six party guests injured as venue roof collapses in Ekiti

Numerous persons sustained injuries as the roof of an event centre used for a funeral reception collapsed at Ijero Ekiti in the Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti State on Saturday

The injured people were hurt in the stampede that resulted from the visitors fleeing out of the building.

According to reports, six of the guests who suffered significant injuries were rushed to the hospital for treatment.

Shortly after the incident, food, broken bottles, shoes, male caps, and wigs were all over the building.

Mr. Biodun Oyebanji, the state’s governor, expressed his relief that no one was killed in the tragedy on Sunday while also expressing sympathy to the injured visitors.

The deputy governor, Monisade Afuye, who represented Governor Oyebanji, visited the site of the building collapse and the Ijero General Hospital where some victims were receiving treatments, described the incident as troubling.

He said, “We thank God that no life was lost. But as a responsible government, we won’t wait until people die before taking actions that can safeguard their lives. That is why it is most expedient that all government agencies must be responsive to their duties all the time.

“Let me sympathise with the victims of this devastating incident. Nobody prays for bad things to happen, but we need to be proactive in preventing occurrences of this nature, rather than being retroactive.

“I know that if the building had been thoroughly supervised and certified fit at every stage of the erection, this incident could have been averted.

“It is just normal and procedural that all public buildings should be monitored and that they are built to specifications and with standard materials used because the common feature associated with building collapse now is for contractors to use substandard products.”

Mr Olajide Borode, the Permanent Secretary, Ekiti State Emergency Management Agency, who accompanied the team, said men of Fire Services were immediately deployed for rescue operation as soon as he received a distressed call.

“The Ekiti State Bureau of Special Project will be here to do an integrity test on the building to ascertain whether it can be salvaged or be demolished,” Borode said.