Pain That Won’t Go Away

The victim of the collapsed building at Number 29 Oloto Street, Ebute Meta, Lagos, is still in great pains....the incident  killed her father and husband, including some other victims, Mrs Fatimo Alake is yet to come to terms with the reality of that tragedy. The incident which occurred.......
around 2.30am on Thursday July 11, 2013 claimed a total of eight lives, including that of an 18 months old baby, a couple, and a pregnant woman.

Although the remains of her father and husband have since been buried  according to Muslim rites, she is still shattered by the tragic loss and has been reduced to a shadow of her former self. In fact, when Vanguard Metro, VM, met her recently, all the signs were there that the widow may soon end up being hospitalised, especially as she now talks without prompting about the loss of her beloved ones to anyone who cares to listen.
Fatimo is haunted by the fact that apart from losing two important persons in her life, virtually all her life earnings were destroyed in the disaster.  Although friends and relatives have been trying hard to sustain this widow but the memories of the tragedy still linger, paralysing her will and leaving her feeling like giving up hope.

While VM’s visit lasted, Fatimo wept uncontrollably like a baby and she refused to be comforted. ‘’I am ruined. I lost my father and my husband in that collapsed building. Also, all our life earnings are gone. Where do I start from now?” she wept bitterly.

In an emotion-laden voice, she told VM her family took up the tenancy of the said building about two years ago to solve their lingering accommodation problem. The Lagos petty trader said she lived on the third street but due to accommodation challenges, her family decided to settle down at No 29b, oblivious of the tragedy waiting to happen there.
Recounting her ordeal, Fatimo said her child and  husband had a narrow escape but her father was fast asleep and could not respond to the alarm raised by neighbours and this resulted to her husband going to lend a helping hand to his in-law. ‘’My immediate family escaped the incident but my aged father was on the bed, and the thought of rescuing him came to mind,’’ she sobbed.

Fatimo’s husband rushed back to the room to save his father-in-law. But as he was trying to carry him to safety, he stumbled on an object and both were trapped until the building finally caved in killing the aged father on the spot; her husband was trapped in the rubbles and he was rescued by rescue officials but he never survived this as he died later on his hospital bed.

Going down memory lane, Fatimo informed that the Alades rented the mini-flat two years ago, a rent that expired three days to the disaster. ‘’We paid an annual rent of N120,000 and the rent was renewed on Monday July 8, 2013. I lived on the next street until I had an accommodation problem and we packed into the mini-flat.Cracks all over the building
The house was quite affordable to many but the incident had dealt a blow on me, ‘’ she said amidst tears.
On why they acquired the apartment in spite of the cracks all over the building, she said: ‘’The building did not appear distressed when we moved in. It was in a good shape and I wouldn’t have parked in if I knew it was substandard?’’
On the accusation against her landlord, she had this to say: ‘’Our landlord was nice to us; he was always patient with erring tenants. Also, the rent was affordable to many although we just renewed the rent which was to expire in June 2014″.