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BREAKING: 3 Feared Dead In Asaba As Keshi Stadium’s Building Collapses

Published

3 years ago

November 10, 2022

BIGPEN

Tragedy struck Thrusday in Asaba, the Delta state capital, as a building under construction at the multi-purpose sport complex of the Stephen Keshi Stadium, collapsed.

www.bigpenngr.com understands three persons are reportedly feared dead in the incident while several other construction workers injured and were hospitalized.

It was learnt among the persons who reportedly died were some of construction workers on site.

Sources said that some journalists who were at the scene to get first hand information including Paul Osuyi of the Sun, Monday Osayande of Guardian and Amaechi Okwara of Blueprint were molested.

The Journalists were allegedly manhandled and their gadgets seized by some group of boys who were said to have gotten instructions from the chairman, Delta State Sports Commission, Tonobok Okowa.

Tonobok, who is a younger brother of the state governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa and Co-Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the festival tagged “Asaba 2022”, was said to ordered that the Journalists should be prevented from accessing the facility to know the level of damage caused.

Okowa was reported to have said “take them out of this place, journalists are not needed.”

A resident of Asaba at the scene said that but “when his boys were reluctant in carrying out the order, he shouted “are they still here, collect their gadgets and bundle them out of here.”

“The boys, in carrying out the order, beat the journalists, heating them with sport gun and other objects before they were bundled out of the stadium on the orders”.

The two-storey sport complex under construction is being prepared for the 21st National Sports Festival (NSF) to be hosted at the stadium from November 28, this year.

Recall that the collapsed building was recently inspected by the Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare, who gave a pass mark, saying that the facilities were 80% ready for use.

However, some structural engineers expressed concerns over the speed at which the construction was going, doubting the integrity of the buildings under construction.

Details later…