A section of Pentagon Lodge, a three-storey building accommodating students of Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo (AE-FUNAI) in Ebonyi State, collapsed on Friday afternoon, leaving students' belongings trapped in the rubble.
According to reports, the building had shown warning signs before the collapse, with visible cracks prompting some students to evacuate the premises. The incident occurred during lecture hours when most students were away at classes.
Sources within the university community revealed that Pentagon Lodge consists of five different blocks, and only a portion of one block collapsed. No casualties have been confirmed at the time of this report, though several students who had traveled out of town still had their belongings inside the affected building.
The Public Relations Officer of AE-FUNAI, Elom Iyke Ubochi, confirmed the incident to BenriNews on Saturday, expressing relief that the collapse happened during school hours.
"From what I've heard so far, there's no casualty. It happened during school hours; students were in school for lectures and other activities, but unfortunately, some of their properties were affected," Ubochi stated.
He added, "We're expecting any student affected by the incident that happened in the private accommodation outside the school environment to make a formal report to the Dean of Student Affairs to let the management know, but so far, no human casualty."
This incident raises concerns about the safety standards of off-campus accommodations housing university students in Nigeria, particularly as the new academic session approaches for many institutions.
The university administration has yet to announce any measures to assist affected students or investigate the structural integrity of similar accommodations housing their students.
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