Collapsed Catholic church victims recount ordeal, seek help from Delta govt

A 106-year-old retired teacher, who narrowly survived the collapse of St. Paul’s Catholic Church at Adagbrassa-Ugolo Ugolo Community in Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State, Pa Michael Ikube, on Friday appealed to the Delta State Government not to abandon those injured from the incident.

In a chat with DAILY POST at the General Hospital were he is currently receiving medical treatment at Orerokpe community, Ikube called on the government to do everything humanly possible to settle his hospital bill as well as that of other injured victims.

He complained of serious pains all over his body as a result of injuries he sustained from the incident.

Narrating how the incident happened from his hospital bed, Ikugbe said they were singing praise and worship awaiting the arrival of the presiding priest when they suddenly heard a loud sound which resulted to the building collapsing on them.

According to Ikube, “Everywhere was dark. The only thing I remembered was that some people carried me from the debris and I saw myself at the hospital bed.”

While thanking God for sparing his life, he also commended the Delta State Governor, Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa for his quick intervention by sending a delegation of his Commissioner for Special Duties, Barr. Ernest Ogwezzy to the site to obtain first-hand information.

Another survivor of the incident, Mr. David Ugbotu, Secretary of the Church, who also spoke from his hospital bed on behalf of other victims, appealed to the Delta State Government as well as the Catholic Diocese of Warri to quickly come to their rescue and help rebuild the church.

Ugbotu said that if this does not happen, they will have nowhere to worship, stressing that the community does not have funds to rebuild the church for them.

Meanwhile, the minority leader of the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Julius Okpoko and Comrade William Eyare have sympathized with the victims as well as the bereaved family of the collapsed church.

The duo described the incident as unfortunate and called for a full-scale investigation so as to find out the actual cause, with the view of preventing a recurrence.

They prayed God to grant the victims speedy recovery and condoled with the parish priest as well as parishioners of St.Paul’s Catholic Church Adagbrsssa Ugolo-Okpe over the death of Master Jeffrey Enukanerhire who lost his life in the unfortunate incident and prayed God to grant his soul eternal rest.

They also called on well-meaning individuals to assist in rebuilding the collapsed church, and urged the church to immortalise the name of the dead parishioner.

They however enjoined property owners to adhere to standards and specifications while building public property.