From Tony John, Port Harcourt

Dozens of occupants of No. 112, Bende Street, in old Port Harcourt township, Rivers State, will not forget June 30 in a hurry. It was a day they would have lost their lives.

That address, a three-storey building, was one of the oldest buildings in Port Harcourt metropolis, Port Harcourt City Locaal Government Area (PHALGA) of the state.

It is situated at a very busy location, where daily business and market activities thrive. Specifically, on Mondays and Fridays, traders from Abia, Bayelsa and Imo states arrive Port Harcourt with their goods such as secondhand clothes, wrappers, shoes and fish, crayfish and other seafood. 

According to some of the tenants and people living close to them, the incident occurred at about 2.30am after torrential rainfall. Though it was after days of the rainfall, part of the building (the toilet, kitchen and staircase) collapsed.

The building, which was dilapidated and had since been marked for demolition by government, was occupied by some families who refused to vacate the property.

Some witnesses, night crawlers, who hanged around Jubilee Park, a popular area of old Port Harcourt township, said that there was no casualty, the residents escaped death by the whiskers.

They said they heard some noise from the direction of the building, which prompted their attention. According to them, some of the residents who were trapped upstairs, were provided with a ladder to come down; while some of the occupants jumped down and were injured.

Daily Sun discovered that the Rivers State Ministry of Urban Development  in 2014, marked the building for demolition.  But, the  occupants refused to vacate until this sudden fall.

Some of the occupants, who craved to remain anonymous, told the reporter,  that Rivers State government had since warned them to vacate the building. They said the recent warning from government was two years ago.

One of the male occupants said: “It was God that saved us. We are still wondering what happened and how the collapse started from the staircase and the toilet.

“If it had started from the area people were sleeping, nobody would have survived because it started when everybody was sleeping.”

“It was 10 years ago, that government officials came and told us to vacate the place. They marked the building for demolition. We stayed and watched them. But, we did not see them again.

“In 2020, they (government officials) came again and we thought they were serious. But, no one came. We didn’t know why they did not come back. That was why we stayed. This building was one of the oldest buildings in this  Port Harcourt.”

Another tenant, who was simply identified as Mike, told the reporter that some parts of the  building had  cracked for a long time.

He said there was no new tenant among them. According to him, some had lived there for more than 15 years and most of the tenants were either traders or artisans.

Speaking further, he disclosed that they continued to occupy the building even after government had marked  it for demolition because the rent was affordable. But, he declined to mention the amount they were paying.

Mike explained: “We did not leave because we liked it. It was because we didn’t have an alternative. Many of us are not into business that can fetch us big money to look for better accommodation elsewhere.

“But, some of us were not living with our family members. When we were ordered to vacate the building about 10 years ago, some of tenants relocated their family members. It has not been easy, that was why it is like we disobeyed government’s directive to park out.”

Meanwhile, it was discovered that the state government did not waste time in demolishing the building, immediately report of the incident got to the relevant authorities.