Where did this photo come from? Thanks to the family of Chidera Onovo
Article information
- Author, Chris Ewokor and Ifiokabasi Ettang
- Role, BBC News, Jos
- July 17, 2024, 6:38 PM WHAT
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Writings on paper, this playful story about a lazy lion, has become a memento of the young life that died.
Chidera Onovo, 15, is a caring boy who loves to draw and is her mother’s favorite.
“They save my lunch money to buy cookies to share with my siblings,” Blessing Onovo said. “And they always check on my mood and ask, ‘Mommy, are you okay?’”
Last Friday morning, Chidera went to school with her younger sister Chisom, but only one of them returned.
According to official reports from the Nigerian government, 22 students were killed when the building of Saints Academy, a private school in the central city of Jos, collapsed. However, local residents say the number is closer to 50.
Using their bare hands and shovels, parents desperately search for survivors, and manage to dig a tunnel and free some of the trapped children. “It takes about an hour for a digger to come,” said Chidera father Chike Michael Onovo.
“When I saw them dragging my daughter Chisom out, I was relieved but I shouted, ‘Wia Chidera, my son?’.”
Later, they find the boy’s body, crushed by the fallen concrete, in the first-floor classroom.
Where did this photo come from? AFP
What do we call this photo, The government and regulators have ordered separate investigations
‘People settle for less’
Victor Dennis, 43, was also looking for him that day. He told me that he feared the worst when he found the lifeless body of his son Emmanuel in the local morgue the next day.
“My boy is a good boy,” he told the BBC. “He doesn’t deserve to die. They’re killing my boy. He’s not doing anything wrong. He’s just going to school to learn.”
Where did this photo come from? Chris Ewokor/ BBC
What do we call this photo, Victor Dennis holds a precious photo of his son, Emmanuel
Tears fall from Oga Dennis’ bloodshot eyes as mourners sing a farewell song at my son’s funeral. My wife, Emmanuel’s mother, did not die because she is inconsolable with grief, she remains at home.
Pipo and Jos support every oda and thus save many young lives by donating blood to local hospitals.
But anger and disbelief are the ground, because they did not allow a building to collapse in Nigeria. Residents even claim that the children did not feel the building shaking on the day of the collapse.
“The substandard materials used – Dis fit dey responsible for the collapse of this building,” said supervisor and architect Olusegun Godwin Olukoya, who headed the Nigerian Institute of Architects for Plateau State. “Our preliminary investigations indicate that this may be a lack of compliance with building codes.”
They are serious in their criticism of the builders and the Nigerian authorities, as they follow the BBC broadcasts.
“Unfortunately, given the society we live in, the lack of willpower has prevented the authorities from adopting our suggestions from the past.
“Pipo is going to cut corners and if you try to raise the alarm, some people think you are trying to victimize or oppress them. They use dia pipo who are in positions of power to circumvent the rules.”
What do we call this photo, Emmanuel Dennis loses his life due to building collapse
Following the collapse of the Saints Academy building, the local government has ordered a structural audit of all schools and public buildings in Plateau State, of which Jos is the capital.
Im goment officials say that if the school’s owner is not released, if he does not die, no building permit will be obtained for the site.
The BBC was unable to obtain comment from the school authorities.
Some also suspect that mining activities in the area could damage school buildings, which is why the government has ordered the arrest of all artisanal miners who dig into residential areas in the state.
But officials suspect the biggest problem is how they built the school.
“Even a layman who is not a construction professional cannot say that the material they are using in construction is not standard. But we are going to investigate the cause of the collapse and punish those we find guilty,” Musa Ashom, the state’s information commissioner, told the BBC.
A similar promise came from Nigeria’s Minister of Housing, Ahmed Dangiwa, who spoke of those whose actions could lead to the collapse of the school in Jos and immeasurable losses.
But these words are of little comfort to many grieving families, like that of Chinecherem Joy Emeka.
The 13-year-old is one of the best dancers in her school and dreams of one day becoming a doctor, as her mother Blessing Nwabuchi did.
Chinecherem, or Chi Chi as we call her, was taking her final year exams on the day she died.
Photos like this one, from her high school graduation last year, are a treasured reminder of all she has accomplished – and all she has become.
Where did this photo come from? Chinecherem Joy Emeka Family
