The Abia State Government has announced plans to fully offset the medical expenses of victims injured when a billboard collapsed in Aba on Wednesday.
The incident, which occurred at the Salad Market entrance during heavy winds, killed one person and left seven others injured.
The Managing Director of the Abia State Signage and Advertising Agency, Mrs. Victoria Onwubiko, disclosed the governor’s intervention during a visit to the accident site on Thursday.
“So, we are glad there are not going to be any more deaths; from what we have seen, the victims in the hospital are recovering and doing well. We understand that about eight persons were involved in the accident; five are at the Abia University Teaching Hospital, two have been discharged and one died,” Onwubiko stated.
She confirmed Governor Alex Otti had authorized seamless medical care for the victims through his Chief of Staff, adding: “There is no hoping that any one of them will go to the court as the state government is doing everything to take care of them.”
The ABSAA chief announced stricter safety measures, including mandatory structural audits for all advertising structures across the state.
“We are going to ask the owners of sites like this to give us the technical drawings with which they built their sites. If we don’t see them, the billboard will come down for them to redo it to ensure safety,” she warned, emphasizing that unstable structures would be dismantled regardless of height.
According to The PUNCH, an Eyewitness Chinedu Nwibo, a vulcanizer at the scene, recounted the tragedy: “We were inside a little makeshift shop when the rain started. The wind was very boisterous and some tricycle operators entered their vehicles for shelter. No sooner had they done this than a big iron pipe used to hoist a billboard fell on them.”
Nwibo identified the deceased as 27-year-old Destiny Uguru from Ebonyi State, leaving behind a pregnant wife and two children. He appealed for government assistance to replace the destroyed tricycles, crucial to the victims’ livelihoods.
The accident has prompted immediate safety reviews of outdoor advertisements across Abia, with authorities vowing to prevent future occurrences through rigorous structural inspections and enforcement of engineering standards.
