July 17, (THEWILL) – Survivors of the Reigners Bible Church that collapsed in December 2016 during the installation of its Founder, Apostle Akan Weeks, as an Archbishop, have recounted their woes at being abandoned by the mission and the Akwa Ibom State Government.
Many of the victims did not pursue the case legally because they believed the state government’s promise that it would adequately take care of their medical expenses.
Some of them who sustained life-threatening injuries have said they are ready to seek redress in court over the government’s insincerity on the incident and subsequent abandonment.
One of them, Mr. Akan Akpanuwah, who now walks with the aid of a walking stick, said the government abandoned him after an initial payment for his medical bills, adding that he was alive and managed to walk due to the financial support from family, friends and church members.
Akpanuwah, whose fermor was completely pulled out of the socket and had an ankle dislocation among other injuries during the incident, said he has so far spent N6.5 million for treatment, including four major surgeries even as he still has more major surgeries to undergo.
He explained: “From what I gathered, because the government dealt directly with my doctor, they paid part of my hospital bill. Out of N6.5 million, I learnt they paid about N3 million. My church, family and friends footed a greater part of the bill.
“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. My whole body was paralysed.
“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 was pulled out, my ribs were cracked. I never thought I would survive, but thank God for life, I was revived in a certain private clinic in Uyo for three weeks.
“When I was taken to University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) on a stretcher, the Head of Orthopaedic, 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,” he stated.
Akpanuwah, a businessman who said he spent all he had just to pay his medical bills, revealed that he still need to undergo other surgeries because his ribs were affected in the accident.
He said, “I have lost all I ever had as a young man. I still need surgeries because I still have iron in my ankle, hip; my ribs need attention. So many people who did not die during the incident are now dead because of lack and negligence on the part of the government. They are supposed to cater for our welfare.
“I’m only lucky. Some of the victims are permanently incapacitated, so they need care. When I go to court, which I intend to, that is when they will know that we need care.”
Akpanuwah expressed displeasure at the state government for exonerating Apostle Akan Weeks from blame, saying as a result, the man was not remorseful, and called for the White Paper on the investigative panel set up to ascertain the cause of that collapse to be made public.
“He is the one that told the workers to remove the pillars that held the beam of the building against the advice of the site engineer. He has not shown remorse or empathy in any way. I will take him to court,” he insisted.
Another victim who chose to remain unnamed said he was disappointed with the way the government handled the victims, saying the government was playing politics with their lives.
The source said that the government mainly spent money on the medical bills of government officials that were affected in the collapse, and abandoned other victims.
He said: “The state government is playing politics with the lives of those victims (we the survivors), because, we see no reason the state government abandoned some of us in the hospitals.
“Government only paid attention to some of those government functionaries in the tragedy.
“From that time and 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; the government has not done well, go and tell them.”
The complaints of victims come four years after the Reigners Bible Church collapsed in December 2016 during the installation of the Church Founder, Apostle Akan Weeks as an Archbishop.
Governor Udom Emmanuel, who was at the event, escaped injury. He would later set up a commission of enquiry to look into the matter, and it came up with a White paper on the incident that has not been made public.
Reacting to the failure of government to publish the White Paper on the incident, the National Coordinator, Akwa Ibom Human Rights Community and lawyer who represented the victims, Mr..Clifford Thomas, said the outcome of the commission of enquiry was a sad reminder of the failure of government to guarantee the welfare of its people.
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 expelled from the government’s Ibom Multi-Specialist Hospital.
He said: “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 enquiry into the Reigners Bible Church collapse to accommodate those who died, those who were left behind and those who were injured.”
Also speaking on the matter, Chairman, Civil Liberties Organisation in Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Franklyn Isong, said the government was biased in the White Paper released by the commission of enquiry.
“Let me Inform you that the White Paper was issued but the 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).
“Apostle Weeks covered up the demolition marking and continued to build on that building. That place was a swampy area and was not fit for such a project. But when the White Paper Reports was released, the 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, build on that building, and even put up pillars in the middle of the building as a support that the engineers advised; but Weeks insisted that they should be removed.
“This the engineers said during the panel sitting. When the reports came out, the government excused and absolved Apostle Akan Weeks of any indictment but invented something and indicted only the engineers.
“Justice Umoekoyo Essang’s Panel of Inquiry did a thorough job. He came out with a clean report but the reports did not mention the number of people who died, which is what we were asking for because there was an issue on the figure of people that died. Some said 400, others 300 people.”
Reacting to the call for review of the report, the Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Mr. Ini Ememobong, said the government is yet to get any request for a review.
On whether the government would respond to any request in that regard, the Commissioner said, “We must look at the administrative procedure involved. For a White Paper to come out, it followed a procedure. For those seeking, we must check what the administrative procedure is.”
