From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
Former Governors of Plateau State, Sir Fidelis Tapgun, Senators Simon Lalong and Joshua Dariye, have expressed their condolences to the state government and families of victims of last Friday school building collapse in Jos.
Not fewer than 22 students died and 134 others sustained injuries when the building of Saint Academy School located in Busa Buji area of Jos North came down while students were taking their examinations.
Tapgun, in a statement expressed sadness that the young lads were caught down in the prime of their ages and urged the bereaved families to take solace in the fact that nothing happens without the knowledge of God.
He prayed to God to console them at this trying moments and to give the dead a befitting rest.
The former governor also commiserated with the government and people of Plateau state over the unfortunate incident and called for stringent measures on building control and regulations.
Tapgun called the Nigerian Institution of Architecture (NIA), Nigerian Society of Engineers(NSE), Council for the Regulation of Engineers in Nigeria(COREN) and the Jos Metropolitan Development Board (JMDB) and other regulatory agencies to synergize and ensure that relevant town planning laws and regulations are enforced.
He urged the state government to carry out a comprehensive audit of all schools and other public infrastructure to ensure that they did not breach relevant laws so as to avoid future occurrences.
Dariye, in his statement described the situation as sad, untimely and avoidable and urged the authorities to get to the root cause of the unfortunate incident and sanction those found culpable.
He expressed deep concern over the spate of building collapse across the country and appealed to government to take necessary actions to end these needless incidents which have claimed many innocent lives.
The former governor commended the National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA), Plateau State Emergency Management Agency(SEMA), The Red Cross, citizens as well as security agencies for their prompt response in rescuing the victims trapped in the rubble.
“The issue boils down to supervision. Lack of proper supervision is the reason why we keep experiencing building collapse across the country and until we return to the basics, we cannot get it right”, Senator Dariye observed.
In his own message, Lalong, who represents Plateau South senatorial zone, said he received with immense sadness and regret the tragic collapse of a school building in Busa Buji Jos which resulted in casualties.
Lalong said the unfortunate incident evoked sorrow and grief as it reportedly led to fatalities including loss of previous lives of students and teachers who were at the school facility.
While commiserating with the families of the affected, Senator Lalong commended the response agencies for doing their best to search and rescue survivors, many of whom were evacuated to medical facilities for further attention.
He also commended public spirited individuals who also supported the rescue efforts as well as donated blood at the medical facilities where the evacuated survivors were taken to.
He prays God to comfort the families of all those affected and urges relevant government agencies to give them necessary support at this time of grief.