Winifred Bosa.

Following the recent tragic building collapse of Reigners Bible Ministry, Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state government has offered to bear the medical cost of all those injured.

It was learnt that this tragedy took place during a church service yesterday , to enthrone the church founder, Apostle Akan Weeks, as bishop.

Reports put the death toll at between 50 and 200 while the bishop ,governor Udom Emmanuel, who was present when the incident occurred, survived. Meanwhile, some journalists ,Udom’s commissioners and his aides were among those seriously wounded.

Commiserating with the families and friends of victims of the collapse, the state governor who confirmed his presence during the incident in a statement lamented that the state had not in its hitory witnessed such a shocking incident.

He said , ” government will, therefore, set up a high-powered panel of inquiry to ascertain the immediate and remote causes leading to the collapse of the building with a view to forestalling the recurrence of such incident and bring to book persons found to have compromised professional standards in the construction of the building”.

He however commended rescue operators present during the mishap ,” I personally supervised rescue operations and evacuation of the injured to the hospital. I directed all emergency organizations, agencies of government and corporate organizations especially the construction companies to be involved in the exercise. They acted promptly and I commend their sense of patriotism and gallantry. “