2 YEARS AFTER REIGNERS CHURCH COLLAPSE: Deceased Families, Victims... Decry AKSG Neglect
By UbongAbasi Ise
Two years after the collapse of Reigners Bible Church which claimed many lives and left hundreds of others permanently incapacitated, victims of the unfortunate incident are yet to get justice even as the State Government has bungled the white paper of the investigative panel that was set up.
It would be recalled that the church building collapsed on December 10, 2016, during the bishopric conservation of Apostle Dr. Akan Weeks. Governor Udom Emmanuel and some of his aides narrowly escaped death.
Governor Emmanuel, however, set up a panel of enquiry to look into the circumstances that surrounded the collapsed of the church. But two years after and despite public outcry by survivors, relatives of the deceased victims and well meaning citizens of the State and Nigeria as a whole, the State Government is yet to serious action to ameliorate the suffering even as the owner of the collapsed church has neither be presented or made to pay compensation to the families of the victims.
This has prompted reactions from the public with a call for justice only being done but seen done.
Anthony Umoffia, male, who lived with family at Ibiaku Ntok Okpo in Ikono Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, died during the event of the Reigners Church collapse at the age of 46. He left behind his wife, Janet, including 6 children and an aged mother. Until his untimely death in December 2016, he was the proprietor of Tony Jay International School in Ikono, but with his demise, the school ceased to function and closed down. Late Umoffia's step-brother, Mr. Victor Akang, who spoke with The Sensor correspondent, said the deceased family is having tough time surviving; the state government had long ignored and abandoned the family, and would not do anything to cushion the insidious effects Umoffia's death have on the family. Mr. Akang revealed that the only help that came to the family was from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Akwa Ibom State Chapter, which donated the sum of N150,000 to the family just to take care of the young family left behind by late Mr. Anthony Umoffia.
Mrs. Rita Etim, who was in her 40s, lost her life at the Reigners Church incident leaving behind her husband and three children. On that fateful day, late Mrs. Etim, a resident of Ikot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom State, went to the ill-fated event along with her husband, Mr. Ime Etim who was a Deacon in the Reigners Church at the time, and her daughter, Grace Etim, a student of Microbiology at the University of Uyo. While Mrs. Etim lost her life, the daughter was fatally injured by one of the collapsing roof trusses. Only her husband survived the flying steels. It was quite a traumatic experience for the man of the family to see his beloved wife breath her last at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital while having his daughter in a very critical health condition at the Government House Clinic, Uyo.
speaking on the State Government's intervention, Mr. Etim said, “Nothing has been done; I'm struggling alone to keep three children. I tried to write a letter to the wife of the State Governor, Mrs. Martha Udom Emmanuel through Family Empowerment and Youth Reorientation Programme (FEYReP) seeking her assistance, but there was no response; even after the whitepaper was presented, still there is no government's response.”
Aniebiet Brownson, male, 22, a resident of Faith Road in Uyo, was pursuing a Higher National Diploma at the Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Ikot Osurua. He went to witness the widely-advertised consecration of Mr. Weeks but did not return alive. Brownson's death still leaves the family in great shocks to this day. Narrating the ordeal to The Sensor, the deceased brother, Mr. David Brownson, said the family is yet to overcome the trauma emanating from his brother's tragic death.
Veronica Hanson, female, 28, lives at Odiok Itam in Itu Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. She attended the event of bishopric enthronement of Apostle (Dr.) Akan Weeks on Saturday 10th December, 2016. As the roof came crashing down, she received a severe hit on the head. She told The Sensor correspondent that she was admitted at Government House Clinic at Wellington Bassey Way in Uyo and the Akwa Ibom State Government paid the initial bill. Veronica stressed that for almost two years now after the incident, the State Government has not reached out to her for any compensation of some sorts. She said the head injury has taken a severe toll on her health, thus affecting her productivity.
©The Sensor Newspaper
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