A member of the planning committee of the annual anniversary of Penpushing Media, Oluwaseun Sodiya, has died alongside her daughter in a building collapse in Ajuwon, Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The incident occurred on Monday at OGS Bus Stop, Baale Road, Ajuwon, a border community between Ogun and Lagos states. The collapsed building housed two shops on the ground floor and residential apartments above.
Sodiya, a 45-year-old Senior Nursing Sister with the Ogun State Hospitals Management Board, was reportedly attempting to escape the building with her two children when it began making cracking sounds. While her son managed to escape, Sodiya and her daughter became trapped beneath the rubble.
The bodies of the mother and daughter were recovered from the debris the following day and deposited at the morgue of the General Hospital, Ifo, where Sodiya had previously worked.
The family has scheduled their burial for Friday at 11am at the Akorede area, off Onipetesi Meji Bus Stop, Ajilete, Ogun State.
Following the tragedy, Governor Dapo Abiodun ordered a full-scale investigation into the cause of the building collapse.
The governor’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, said preliminary findings from a multi-agency investigation team indicated that the building suffered a catastrophic structural failure.
According to Akinmade, the structural failure caused the lower floors to sink into the ground, leaving only sections of the upper slab visible above the rubble.
He said eyewitnesses reported that the building collapsed at about 3pm, shortly after a heavy downpour accompanied by thunderstorms and an alleged lightning strike.
Emergency responders from the state Safety Office, Fire Service, Ministries of Environment, Physical Planning and Urban Development, Works and Infrastructure, the Nigeria Police Force and the Ifo Local Government Water and Environmental Sanitation Department were immediately deployed to the scene.
Akinmade added that contractors working on projects around the Akute-Alagbole and Agbado axis brought heavy equipment to the scene less than 10 minutes after the incident to support rescue operations.
The government, however, cautioned against attributing the collapse solely to the rainfall, noting that detailed structural, geotechnical and forensic engineering investigations were required to establish the exact cause.
The investigations will examine possible factors including foundation defects, soil instability, construction errors, the use of substandard materials and other underlying structural issues.
The governor has directed officials from the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, the state Building Control Agency, the Building Production Management and Material Testing Agency and other relevant bodies to conduct comprehensive structural, soil and material assessments.
The adjoining buildings will also be inspected to determine whether they were affected by the collapse.
The state government assured residents affected by the incident of its support and warned that anyone found to have violated building regulations, deviated from approved plans or compromised construction standards would face prosecution.
It also commended the Lagos State Government for its swift intervention, describing the cooperation between both states as important to protecting lives and property in border communities.
Meanwhile, the management, editorial board and planning committee of Penpushing Media have mourned Sodiya, describing her as a committed and proactive member of the organisation.
Chairperson of the Penpushing Editorial Board, Deaconess Olufunke Fadugba, expressed shock over the death, saying the tragedy would have a profound impact on those who knew Sodiya, particularly her surviving son.
“Oh! What a sad development? The news of the collapsed building seemed so far from knowing the one involved was so near. May God grant her and the daughter eternal rest,” Fadugba said.
She added that Sodiya’s death would be particularly difficult for her son, who reportedly narrowly escaped the collapse.
“Seun’s death will no doubt have a massive impact on all who knew her, particularly her son. The son, according to reports, escaped by the whiskers as he ran faster out of the house before the collapse,” she said.
Fadugba described Sodiya as a mother who had worked hard to provide for her children, adding that her death would leave a significant void in the family.
