Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi
The Management of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, has declared that none of its students is still missing following the collapse of a bridge in the institution.
This is contrary to reports in some media that students were still missing.
It would be recalled that four students died while seven were injured when a metallic bridge linking the student’s hostel and the lecture halls collapsed on Monday night at about 11.45p.m after a heavy downpour that lasted for several hours.
However, the University’s Vice Chancellor, Muhammad Abdullazeez, stated that only three students died in the incident when Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Muhammed, paid him a condolence visit yesterday.
According to Abdullazeez:”The management felt that it was necessary to construct a metal bridge can carry between 10 to15 people at a time. This is not meant for static loads but for dynamic loads, which means you don’t stand on it, you just pass.
“But the report we received showed that more than 30 students converged on the bridge to take selfies. But the bridge suddenly collapsed and that was how we lost three students.
“Based on our records, no student is missing for now. Of the three students that have been confirmed dead, two were from Kogi State while one was from Benue State made up of two females and a male. They were all from the Department ofBusiness Education and Management Studies.”
The VC said that the university’s management has constituted a committee to investigate and find out the remote causes of the incident and how to prevent it.
He thanked the state government and security agencies for being proactive in handling the incident. “The police, the DSS and the state government were proactive,” he said.
Governor Mohammed used the visit to commiserate with the families of the deceased, the management of the university and entire students of the institution for the unfortunate incident.
He said his visit was to assess the areas that required urgent attention from the state government
Mohammed also disclosed that the student union has given the government their demands, which include the reconstruction of the damaged bridge.
He assured the students that their demands would be attended to by the state government notwithstanding that the institution is a federal university.
