A survivor of the collapsed building, Mr. Moruf Abdulakeem, yesterday revealed that he was under the rubble for three hours and at a point feared death was near.
He said: “I was praying to God under the rubble, to accept and forgive me my sins, because I believed the end had come.”
According
to him, he had gone out about 9.30a.m. to buy food and a bag of sachet
water. He said that as he was mounting the staircase, almost getting to
the third floor, the earth suddenly seemed to shift. The building
collapsed. Abdulakeem, who is the head teacher of the Ohen Nursery and
Primary School, teaches Basic Six.
He said: “Initially, when the
building collapsed, I didn’t know where I was until after some minutes. I
saw a ray of light; it was then I knew I was under the building. The
first thing that came to my mind was what had happened to the pupils. I
knew there was no way they could have escaped. I spent about three hours
before I could see the ray light. Everywhere was dark; I heard cries of
the pupils and the proprietress shouting Jesus! Jesus! I also heard the
voice of Baba Ridwan. He was not too far from me under the rubble. We
used to pray together in the same mosque. He was calling for help. When I
heard his voice, I told him to pray, not to shout.
“When I saw
the ray light, I tried to raise my hand up. Someone touched me, and
called my name. The person told me not to worry that they were coming to
rescue me. It took the rescue team an hour before they could remove the
slab that fell on me. “It was after they removed the slab that I felt
some relief.
The heat under the rubble was too much. It got to a
stage I could not breathe anymore. It was God that saved me. Before the
rescue team came, I was getting weaker. I started praying to God to
accept my soul. “I told Baba Ridwan to pray because at that point, God
is the only one that can save us. I sustained injuries on my arm, ribs,
chest and legs. Even right now, I’m in severe pains. “All the time I was
under the rubble, I was praising God. I didn’t know what would happen
next. When they eventually brought me out; it was like a dream to me. I
thank God for sparing my life; unfortunately, I lost five of Basic Six
pupils and four others.”
Abdulakeem explained that at the Primary
Health Centre, Onikan, where the rescue team took him to, the doctors
asked him to bring N9,000 for X-ray and other treatment. He added: “Some
of my co-teachers are in serious condition. A teacher called Esther is
presently in coma. Another of my colleague, Daniel and the proprietress
died. Others are in critical condition.”
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