One dies as building collapses in police barracks

A bungalow in the Mounted Troop Police Barracks in Ikeja, Lagos State, on Tuesday, partially collapsed and killed one Peace Bulus and broke the arm of her sister.

The victims’ mother, Hauwa, who escaped death by a whisker alongside the injured victim and her two other daughters, was said to have collapsed due to shock.

PUNCH Metro gathered that Hauwa and her four children were sleeping in their one-room apartment in the barracks when an implosion occurred in the building around 3am.

It was learnt that the lintel of the door suddenly fell, smashed Peace’s skull and broke her sister’s arm.

An eyewitness, Rasheed Adedeji, told PUNCH Metro that Peace died on the spot, adding that her injured sister alongside their mother, who fainted from shock, were rushed to the Police Clinic in Ikeja for treatment.

He said, “The incident happened around 3am when rain was falling. What we observed when we got there was that the lintel of their room collapsed and fell on two of the children, while they were asleep.

“As the lintel fell, it smashed Peace’s head and broke the arm of another child, and the effect on the mother made her to collapse.

“The building is an old bungalow. The roof of the building is still intact, but I am surprised how the lintel of the door fell.”

Another eyewitness, Idris Abdulsalam, said it took eight hefty men to lift the lintel to retrieve Peace’s remains, adding that her corpse had been buried in a cemetery in the Agege area of the state.

When PUNCH Metro visited the scene, friends and family members were seen at the front of the house lamenting the tragedy.

When approached for a comment, the deceased’s distraught father said, “God giveth, and God taketh,” and declined further comments.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, said he would find out about the incident and get back to our correspondent, but had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report. Punch