Collapse of the Reigners Bible Church in Uyo

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The Reigners Bible Church was a church building of the locally operating evangelical congregation Reigners Bible Church International in northeastern Uyo , Akwa Ibom state , Nigeria . The collapse on December 10, 2016 killed numerous visitors to a church service.

building

The construction of the church building in the east of the city on Uyo Village Road began in 2013 and was designed as an octagonal central building with a diameter of about 72 meters. A steel structure with 16 rafters was planned as the roof . The construction work is said to have continued despite the lack of an approved construction drawing and official requests to freeze construction. At the time of the accident in 2016, the church was not yet finished, the roof was only half covered. A scaffolding that supported the center of the roof was removed less than 24 hours before the service and construction work was still taking place on the building a few hours before.

collapse

The building, which was designed for several thousand believers, was visited in large numbers on December 10, 2016 due to an ordination . About 30 minutes after the service began, after a collection, the steel structure of the roof gave way, then the steel girders and the roof collapsed. There were numerous dead who were brought to the local university clinic . Initially there was talk of 60, then about 200 deaths. According to various official figures, the number of deaths was 27-29.

Among those present was Reigners Bible Church founder Akan Weeks , who was to be appointed bishop. The guest of honor was Udom Emmanuel , the governor of the province, who survived the disaster. Akan Weeks moved his ordination to Abak after the accident .

Consequences

The government announced an investigation into the causes. In April 2017, the civil rights organization Civil Liberties Organization (CLO) criticized the fact that, although the commission of inquiry declared that it had completed its investigation, no report had been published two months later. On July 5, 2017, the commission handed the report to the provincial government, which neither published it nor announced the results. This was criticized by the CLO and a spokesman for a journalists' association. In February 2018, the government announced that it had ordered prosecutors to take legal action against those who were responsible for the collapse, according to the report. In April 2018, a white paper was published which summarized the findings of the investigation committee. Although Akan Weeks is accused of illegally erecting the church on government land, contracting the work to bunglers (literally quacks ), disregarding building regulations and ordering the removal of the central supporting structure, Governor Emmanuel absolved him of any responsibility, but rather those who were responsible Specialists commissioned to build. The lawyer and human rights activist Inibehe Effiong, who had obtained the publication of the white paper through a court case, condemned the decision.

Previous significant building collapses in Nigeria were the collapse of the Synagogue Church of all Nations in Lagos on September 12, 2014 with around 116 deaths and the collapse of a five-story high-rise in Lagos with at least 34 deaths on March 9, 2016.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Collapse Of Reigners Bible Church International In Uyo Akwa-Ibom State. Download summary. In: www.coren.gov.ng. Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, December 16, 2016, pp. 6–9 , accessed on September 22, 2017 (English, page with a link to download the PDF (325 kB)).
  2. ↑ Many dead in church collapse in Nigeria , Frankfurter Rundschau of December 11, 2016
  3. ↑ Olubode Olusesan: Gov escapes death as 200 die in Akwa Ibom church collapse. In: Punch Newspapers. December 11, 2016, accessed December 12, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Anamesere Igboeroteonwu, Ulf Laessing: Devastating Nigerian Church Collapse Leaves An Uncertain Death Toll. The Huffington Post , December 11, 2016, accessed September 21, 2017 .
  5. ^ Governor orders arrest of contractor of collapsed church. In: Daily Nigeria News. December 12, 2016, accessed December 12, 2016 .
  6. ^ Breaking: Church Building Collapses In Uyo During Ordination of Bishop. (No longer available online.) In: reportsafrique.com. Archived from the original on December 12, 2016 ; accessed on December 12, 2016 .
  7. ^ Church collapses in Uyo, killing dozens of Nigerians. In: aljazeera.com. December 11, 2016, accessed December 12, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Nigeria: More than 200 dead when a church collapsed. In: Spiegel Online. December 11, 2016, accessed December 12, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Nigerian Bishop Akan Weeks Tagged Satanists For Moving Ordination To Abak Town After 60 Die In His Church. In: http://naijagists.com . December 10, 2016, accessed September 21, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Nigeria church collapses onto worshipers, killing 160. The Daily Telegraph , December 11, 2016, accessed September 21, 2017 .
  11. ↑ Emmanuel Ayungbe, Dennis Udoma: Collapsed Reigners Bible Church: Clo alleges govt cover-up. In: www.vanguardngr.com. April 11, 2017, accessed September 21, 2017 .
  12. ↑ Denis Udoma: Reigners' Church building collapse: Panel submits report. In: www.vanguardngr.com. July 6, 2017, accessed September 21, 2017 .
  13. ↑ Abel Benjamin: Reigners Bible Church Collapse: AljazirahNigeria investigation reveals shocking outcomes. In: aljazirahnews.com. August 10, 2017, accessed on September 21, 2017 .
  14. ↑ Akwa Ibom Govt Refuses To Release Report On Church Collapse That Killed 27. In: saharareporters.com. February 24, 2018, accessed September 1, 2018 .
  15. ^ Reigners Building Collapse: Akwa Ibom Govt Releases White Paper. In: 9jaecho.com. April 9, 2018, accessed September 1, 2018 .
  16. ^ White Paper on The Report of the Commission of Inquiry. (PDF; 1.21 MB) In: 9jaecho.com. Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria, archived from the original on September 1, 2018 ; accessed on September 1, 2018 (English).
  17. ↑ Chioma Onuegbu, Harris-Okon Emmanuel: Church building collapse: Reactions trail govt rejection of white paper. In: www.vanguardngr.com. April 11, 2018, accessed September 1, 2018 .

Coordinates: 5 ° 3 '14.6 "  N , 7 ° 56' 21.8"  E