51-yr-old, dies as building collapses in Ogun

A mother of three, identified as Mrs Modupe Bankole, has lost her life in a building collapse which occurred at Olomore area of Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Saturday night.

This was coming on the heels of another incident on Sunday night at Leme area of the city, although no life was lost there.

Metro gathered that the deceased died when the concrete railings of a storey building collapsed on her.

This development made other tenants in the building to pack their belongings out of the building for a safer place.

When Metro visited the scene, on Monday, the husband of the victim, Samuel Bankole, said his wife might have died as a result of broken blocks which hit her while she was sleeping outside the building.

He narrated that they had been occupying the building for close to 12 years, saying the incident happened while he was preparing his lesson note.

Bankole said, “My wife told me in the house that she was going to prepare food. After finishing the preparation, she came to me and took a small mat and a pillow and spread it out to take some breeze. She spread it even very far away from the collapsed decking.

“I was preparing my own note of lesson that time. I told her that when I finished writing, I would join her there. When I finished, I came out. Few children were moving up and down there until suddenly a neighbour called them and sent them on an errand.

“My last born came back from his place of apprenticeship and even slept beside the mother. He later left to see a friend. Shortly after, I just heard the sound of the collapsed decking over my head. I believed that since my wife was not directly under that building, she was safe, and I just ran outside and started shouting ‘thank you Jesus.’

The state government, speaking through the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Urban and Physical Planning, Mrs Yetunde Dina, promised to investigate the incident.

Dina, who was at the scene of the incident, said engineers of the ministry would deploy to the site to ascertain whether the structure was still in good condition or not.