Grandmum rescued from collapsed building dies OCTOBER 23, 2015 : ARUKAINO UMUKORO

Scene of the collapse

Alhaja
Mistura
Ahmodu,
the
82-
year-
old
woman,
who
was
rescued
from
a
three-
storey
building
that collapsed on Swamp Street, Lagos Island, on Wednesday, is
dead.
Ahmodu’s granddaughter, Shukura Ishola, told PUNCH Metro on
Thursday that the octogenarian, who hailed from Ilorin, Kwara
State, passed on around 5pm on Wednesday at the Lagos Island
General Hospital, alleging that medical personnel at the hospital
did not attend to her promptly.
Ahmodu had been placed on oxygen and rushed to the hospital
after she was rescued from the rubble on the fateful day around
2pm – five hours after the building collapsed.
Our correspondent had reported that prior to the incident, the
building had posed a threat for years.
It was also reported that five other residents trapped in the
collapse, were rescued and rushed to hospitals in the area.
Three of them with minor injuries were treated and discharged a
few hours later. But Ahmodu, who broke her thigh, was not so
lucky.
Shukura, her granddaughter, alleged that the woman was left
unattended to for a few hours.
She said, “The doctors in that hospital did not take care of her
on time. We were told to buy some drugs and they abandoned
her. My brother and I went to get the drugs. When we came
back with the drugs around 3.30pm, grandma was still alive.”
However, Shukura’s father, Alhaji Tajudeen Ishola, said the
workers were hospitable.
He said, “She spoke with us around 4pm. She said she was
thirsty and a doctor told us to buy a bottle of drink, which she
drank. We were preparing an X-ray on her thigh when everything
changed. She died at about 5pm. She was well taken care of at
the hospital. She was 82.”
The daughter of the deceased, Alhaja Fatimat Ishola, who was in
the bathroom when the building collapsed, said, “We lived on the
first floor. I was in the bathroom while Mama (Ahmodu) was in
her room when the building collapsed. It was God that saved
me.”
A resident and businessman, Saidi Balogun, lamented that some
miscreants cashed in on the incident to steal.
He said, “It is surprising that some people use a situation like
this to steal. Out of the 40 wrist watches I kept at home, I was
able to recover only six. The N480,000 I kept in my cupboard
has been stolen.”
Some emergency officials told PUNCH Metro that rescue mission
had ended.
The General Manager, Lagos State Safety Commission, Mr.
Fouad Oki, on Thursday, said about 15 houses had been sealed
in the community.
“So far, we have sealed over 15 houses. We want to know the
structural integrity of these buildings. If the material laboratory
result shows that the buildings are okay, we will reopen them.
But if it states otherwise, we will direct the owners of the
structures to pull them down.”
Lagos developers set up committee
The Association of Real Estate Developers of Lagos State
(AREDOLS) says none of it members was involved in incidences
of building collapse in the state.
Chairman of the association, Mr. Nureni Akinsanya, said the
three-storey structure that collapsed on the Lagos Island was
not built by his members.
Akinsanya said, “The property was not built by a developer. The
area where the incident occurred has drainage problem. The
renovation works carried out by its owner were without
professionals’ input.”
He said in order to prevent a recurrence, the association had set
up a nine-man committee to collaborate with the Lagos State
government to rid the metropolis of distressed buildings.
He also called on the state government to commence integrity
test on all adjoining property in the locality where the collapse
occurred.
He assured that the association was ready to cooperate with the
government to ensure that his members comply with all
regulations concerning physical development planning in Lagos.