Rivers LG chair orders demolition of building over structural defects

Allwell Ihunda, a Port Harcourt City Local Government Area Chairman in River State, has ordered the demolition of a four-story building on Amadi Street, Orowurokwu, over alleged structural defects.

According to The Punch, the directive followed an alarm raised by residents of the area to the council authorities that the building was on the verge of caving in.

On arrival at the scene, the LG boss, Ihunda, ordered the immediate demolition of the building to avert any loss of lives.

He said, “So, I immediately called the National Emergency Management Agency director, South-South; I also called the Divisional Police Officer of Olu Obasanjo Police Station, the Federal Road Safety Corps, and Julius Berger.

“When they arrived here, we noticed that the building was collapsing, and the only way to remedy the situation was to bring it down.

“We discovered that the building was collapsing due to severe structural defects. The materials are substandard. I don’t know the engineer supervising it.

“The information reaching me is that the owner of the property is not in town. But to the glory of God, the building has been brought down, and no life was lost.”