
It was a black Sunday, June 22, 2025, when a three-storey building under construction collapsed at the Alegwe Quarters of Owa-Alero, located in Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State. The incident resulted to the death of one of the labourers, identified as Sunny.
In an interview with reporters, a co-labourer at the construction site, Mr. Ikechukwu Obiora, described the events leading up to the collapse. He explained that work had resumed on Saturday, June 21, 2025, to cast the third floor of the building. “We successfully completed the first day’s work without any issues and spent the night in the building. The next day, I was at the top of the structure when I was alerted to signs of an impending collapse between 3 PM and 4 PM due to a wall breakage on the first floor. My colleagues and I stepped outside to assess the situation. After waiting for fifteen minutes, Sunny insisted that nothing would happen and returned inside to continue working.
“Unfortunately, a few minutes later, the building collapsed on Sunny, resulting in his death. It’s heartbreaking, especially, after he ignored our warnings to stop work. It is very painful that we came to Owa-Alero as a team of six people, and now we are down to five. Nevertheless, I thank Almighty God that the structure did not collapse on Saturday night we spent there,” he recounted.
Mr. Obiora revealed that the building contractor, whose name he did not know since they were contracted by someone else, has since been detained at the Owa-Oyibu Police Divisional Headquarters. He attributed the collapse to a poor foundation, which he believes was inadequate to support a three-storey building. “I maintain that it was a poor foundation that caused the collapse, as the wall started cracking at the down floor, because it was unable to support the structure,” Mr. Obiora stated.
The Executive Chairman of the Ika North East LGA Council, Hon. Monday Odigwe, visited the site of the collapsed building on Monday, June 23, 2025. He called for a thorough investigation into the cause of the collapse and extended his condolences to the family of the victim. He also urged relevant agencies responsible for building regulations to ensure that all construction projects adhere to international best practices to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
Meanwhile , Hon. Odigwe as part of his intervention hired a payloader machine on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, to remove the debris covering the remains of the late Sunny, which had been recovered after hours of searching.