Building demolition; Mother of 5 crushed to death in Aba, Abia state.

The story of the sudden death of Mrs. Precious Chizoba Okeke, from Mbaise in Imo state, is still a shock to the people who resides in Aba, especially her relatives and her neighbours.

It will be recalled that Mrs. Chizoba, met her sudden death last week during an Ongoing road expansion in Port Harcourt road Aba, the commercial nerve centre of Abia State.

The exercise took a bloody turn when three storey building undergoing demolition crashed on Mrs. Chizoba, dismembered her body parts and led to her sudden death.

Investigation proved that Mrs. Precious Chizoba Okeke, is a native of Mbaise in Imo state, a resident of 27 Ukachi Street, off Port Harcourt Road Aba and a mother of five.

Before her death, Mrs. Chizoba was said to be hawking within the premises of the collapsed building at 160 Port Harcourt road when she met her painful end.

Narrating to our correspondent, an eyewitness and a brother to the deceased, who gave his name as Nonso, express shock, revealing that several hours after her death, some parts of her body like her leg was still missing as the building dismembered the late Chizoba.

According to Nonso; “when I got to the scene, I was shocked to the extent that I began to ask people if Boko Haram has entered Aba to bomb us all. It was a horrible place to behold.

“It was when I got so close that I saw my sister’s body lying down dead and with her second leg missing. From what I saw there, the building has been demolished to the required state. No one was expecting such incident, but I learnt that the bulldozer working on a close building to that one was on and it was the shaking of that big machine and the vibration that comes with it that forced the building to collapse on my sister who was searching for what she will use to take care of her family.

“She was running towards the road to escape. All parts of her body escaped, but due to the length of the building, it was able to catch her legs and dismembered her. She normally goes out to sell zobo and other drinks and that was what she was doing close to that area not knowing that death was waiting.

“She has five children and I really don’t know how this situation can be handled. The children also rushed to the scene, but were taken away by sympathizers. As I speak to you, my old mother is still expecting her back in the village because she promised to come and see her as usual.

“My father who got the news of the incident is already hospitalized as a result of the shock and our mother doesn’t even know why. She feeds me with her hawking business since I lost my job. Her husband is highly devastated and is not here right now.

“It is a big loss to our family. We beg the government and our governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu to please try and save her children the pains by at least taking care of them. We are not blaming them, but we beg for help please. They are too tender.

The body of the late Chizoba is said to have been deposited at the mortuary.


Meanwhile, the Abia State government through the Commissioner for Information, Chief John Okiyi Kalu, has reacted to Mrs. Chizoba’s sudden death.

In a statement, the state government sympatized with the family of the deceased, while vowing that they will do everything necessary to make sure she laid to rest.

The statement also urged the residents to stay away from construction sites within the state. The statement reads:

“We received with sadness the report of the loss of a life arising from residents’ voluntary effort to remove an illegal structure along Port Harcourt road, Aba, which is currently under reconstruction by Setraco-Hartland Construction Company. Initial reports available to us indicate that in the course of removing illegal attachments to a property by its owners, the building collapsed and unfortunately killed a nonresident engaged in petty trading activity around the property.

“Our hearts are with the family and friends of the deceased, even as we continue efforts to trace her next of kin. While we appreciate the cooperation and exemplary support of the residents and landlords association of Port Harcourt road, to ensure that we quickly realize a new 6-lane road from the long abandoned but critically important Port Harcourt road Aba, it is important to call on residents and landlords to abide by our safety rules and protocols including complete evacuation of people living in or doing business around a marked property before commencing demolition of extensions and illegal structures.

“It is important to remark at this point that this has been the focus of the advocacy drive by the Ministry of Works even before the commencement of this huge project. No resident or landlord will henceforth be permitted to remove illegal structures without relevant supervisors from the ministry of works. Once more, we extend our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased and sympathize with others who lost properties as a result of the collapse of the building.”

Source: Abiacityblog