By Dennis Udoma, Uyo
Five years after the Reigners Bible Church collapse in Akwa Ibom state, survivors of the tragic incident that reportedly claimed the lives of more than 100 people and and nearly claimed the life of the State Governor, Udom Emmanuel are up in arms. They are protesting what they claim is neglect by the state government and cover ups contained in the Government White paper on the fatal incident and are threatening court action against the State Government.
The tragedy happened on December 10, 2016 during the enthronement service of the Church’s founder, Apostle Akan Weeks, as Archbishop and scores of worshipers lost their lives while others, including government functionaries, sustained injuries.
Most of those who survived failed to explore the legal angle because, according to them, the State Government had promised all the victims adequate medical care. Along the line, however, the government, they claim, reneged on its promise.
Some of those who sustained life threatening injuries have recently, recounted their woes of abandonment by the Akwa Ibom State government, to this reporter saying that they are now ready to seek redress in court over government’s insincerity and their subsequent abandonment.
Mr Akan Akpanuwah, who now moves about with the aid of clutches lamented how he was abandoned to fate in the hospital by the State government after an initial payment of part of his medical bills.
Akpanuwah, who is suffering from hip bone and ankle dislocations, as well as rib fractures said he has spent N6.5 million in the past four and a half years on four major surgeries.
According to him, “from what I gathered, because government deals directly with my doctor, they have paid N3 million, which is a fraction of my hospital bills. I learnt they paid about N3 million. My Church, family and friends footed a greater part of the bills.
“The N6.5 million is just what I paid for the four major surgeries that have been done on my leg. I was in the hospital for over a year and each night was N10,000. I know what I have spent. I was completely smashed and my whole body was completely paralyzed.
“The incident happened on December 10, 2016 and I first regained consciousness on January 1, 2017. I could not carry my body; my ankle was completely detached; my hip joint pulled out and my ribs were cracked. I never thought I would survive, but I thank God for life. I was revived at a private clinic in Uyo after three weeks.
“When I was taken to the University of Uyo (UUTH) on a stretcher, the Head of Orthopedic, Dr Notish said he could not handle my case. I was taken to a private hospital in Ikot Ekpene where a certain Dr Essien, a 75 year old American trained doctor salvaged me.”
Akpanuwah said because of the tragedy that befell him, he has used up all he had to foot his medical bills adding that, he still needs to undergo more surgeries since his ribs were seriously affected in the church collapse.
He further disclosed that, a lot more people who were affected by the incident have been incapacitated for life, owing to government’s neglect, insisting that he would seek redress in court, for their abandonment and neglect by the State Government.
“I have lost all I had as a young man. I still need surgeries because I still have iron in my ankle and hip. My ribs also need attention. So many people who did not die during the incident are dead because of negligence on the part of government which is supposed to cater for our welfare.
“I’ve only been lucky. Some of the victims are permanently incapacitated, so they need care. When I go to court, which I intend to do, that is when they will know that we need care,” he stated.
Akpanuwah blamed the state government for exonerating the founder of Reigners Bible Church, Apostle Akan Weeks from culpability in the “White Paper”, saying that as a result of the backing by the State Government, the man was not remorseful, and called for the white paper on the matter to be made public.
Akpanuwah said, “from what I learnt, government is hiding the white paper from the public and it is not supposed to be a hidden document. I am planning to go to court on the matter but my lawyer says, I should hold on until I recover fully. He has assured me that if the case is taken to court, the white paper will be produced.
“Because of government’s interest, they are hiding the white paper and only published the part that favoured them. Because of that, the man (Akan Weeks) has not shown any remorse. I am told the white paper really indicted him.
“He is the one that told the workers to remove the pillars that held the beams of the building against the advice of those engineers. He has not shown remorse or empathy in anyway. I will charge the Church and the State Government to court,” he insisted.
Another victim who spoke on condition of anonymity also expressed disappointment with the way the government handled the victims, saying government was playing politics with the lives of the victims.
The source said, government mainly spent money on the medical bills of government officials that were affected in the collapse, including flying some of them abroad for treatment (names withheld) and abandoned other victims.
“I was reluctant to speak on the issue especially my total disappointment with the role of the state government.
“The State Government is playing politics with the lives of those victims, especially we the survivors, because, we see no reason why the state government abandoned some of us in the hospitals.
“Government only paid attention to the government functionaries who were affected during the tragedy.
“Our State Government was not sincere and that may have been why the Governor refused to publish the White Paper on the incident, which recommendations could have helped cushion the effect of the losses and pains we the victims went through.
“From that time till now, I have spent more than N3 million on hospital bills and drugs to maintain myself. However, I thank God I am alive today to give this account. Government has not done well at all, go and tell them,” he stated sadly.
Reacting to government’s failure to publish the white paper on the incident, National Coordinator, Human Rights Community, Mr Clifford Thomas, said the outcome of the Commission of Inquiry was a sad reminder of the failure of government to guarantee the welfare of her citizens.
Thomas, who is also the lawyer that represented the victims at the commission of inquiry stated that, over four years after the tragic incident which claimed about 100 lives and left many injured, the government has failed to give succour to many of the victims.
He explained that, the N3.5 million that was raised to support the victims was through voluntary donations from the public, adding that, some of the victims with serious injuries were later sent out of the government hospital, Ibom Multi-Specialist, where they were being treated, by the hospital management.
He said unfortunately, those affected had to resort to traditional methods to treat themselves, saying they were too poor and afraid to challenge the government for exonerating Apostle Akan Weeks, who they claimed was responsible for the tragedy.
“We want the government to review the report of that commission. Let the government reach out to the people.
“Akwa Ibom Human Rights Community is calling for the review of the report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Reigners Bible Church collapse to accommodate those who died, those who were left behind and those who were injured,” he maintained.
Also speaking on the matter, Chairman, Civil Liberties Organisation(CLO) in Akwa Ibom State, Mr Franklyn Isong said government was biased in the White paper released by the Commission of Inquiry.
“Let me inform you that, the White Paper was issued but government hid the report and excused Akan Weeks. Government rather indicted the engineers who carried out the construction of the building.
“As far as the CLO is concerned, Apostle Akan Weeks is the owner of the structure and the place was marked for demolition by the Uyo Capital City Development Authority (UCCDA) long before the incident happened.
“Apostle Weeks covered up the demolition markings by the Uyo Capital City Development Authority (UCCDA) and continued to build. That place was a swampy area and was not fit for such project. But when the White Paper report was released, government absolved Apostle Weeks.
“The Panel report came out very clearly that Apostle Akan Weeks is the owner of the building. He engaged the engineers who gave him professional advice alleging some structural defects on the building.
“But he said they should go ahead with the building…. When the reports came out, government excused and absolved Apostle Akan Weeks of any indictment but invented something to indict only the engineers.
“The Justice Umoekoyo Essang-led Panel of Inquiry did a thorough job. He came out with a clean report but the report did not mention the number of people that died, which is what we were asking for because there was an issue on the figures of people that died. Some said 400, others 300 people,” he explained.
Reacting to the call for review of the report, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Ini Ememobong denied that, government was yet to get any request for a review.
“The white paper is government’s position on the report. So If they are seeking a review, are they seeking a review of the report or the white paper? These are technical and administrative issues.
“We are not aware of any request for a review of either the report or white paper because you cannot seek a review of the white paper.
“The white paper is the position on the report, while the report is the foundation, and the white paper is the building on top of the foundation. As far as I am aware, we have not been notified of any request for a review,” he said.
On when the state government would respond to the request in that regard, the Commissioner explained, “We must look at the administrative procedure involved noting that, for a white paper to come out, it must follow a procedure and we must check what the administrative procedure is.”
