Ikoyi Building: 22 Artisans, RCCG Pastor, Stuck In Rubble

Ola Ogunfuwa, a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, and 22 of his employees are among those trapped in the wreckage of the 21-story Ikoyi building that collapsed on Monday on Gerrard Road in Lagos State.

iexclusive News Nigeria reports that the pastor, who is the pastor of the Living Water Parish in Ibafo, Ogun State, was claimed to be working as a contractor on the project but has yet to be heard from or identified among those rescued or taken out alive.

Omotosho Shola Emmanuel, a friend of Ogunfuwa and an RCCG pastor, verified to our correspondent that the victim posed as an engineer and came from Ibafo with 22 other artisans, including bricklayers and welders, to work on the construction.

“I’m here this morning because one of my pastor friends works here as an engineer,” he explained. He brought roughly 22 individuals from Ibafo (Ogun State) to work on the project, including laborers, bricklayers, welders, and other tradesmen.

“Out of those who have been rescued, we haven’t seen any of those 22, and we believe he is still there because we learned that he came out to eat yesterday (Monday) at break time, but as he was about to wash his hands to eat, he was summoned by one of his bosses, and he went back inside, but the building collapsed about five to ten minutes later, trapping him.”

“He is still there now, and we pray that God has mercy on those who remain.”

“As a church, we prayed all night yesterday and we’re still thinking that there’s nothing God can’t accomplish because we know there are still a lot of people there; they stated there were over 50 people there.”

“The ones they’ve rescued aren’t up to 10, so we’re still expecting more people to be rescued,” Omotosho said, pleading with God to send more survivors.

No rescued people have been named since the rescue efforts on the fallen building on Gerard Road began, but they have all been transferred to an unidentified hospital.

According to iexclusive News Nigeria, ten individuals were believed to be dead at the time of the tragedy, with many more still buried in the wreckage, including the building’s owner, Mr Femi Osibona, the Managing Director of Fourscore Heights Limited.

Workers were on the scene when the building collapsed at 2 p.m.

On Tuesday, Ibrahim Farinloye, the National Emergency Management Agency’s South-West Coordinator, reported a total of 20 remains had been retrieved, including that of Osibona’s personal assistant.