Delta School Water Tank Accident, Parents Of Victims Demand N90B Payout

PHOTO: THE OVERHEAD WATER TANK AFTER IT FELL ON A CLASSROOM LEAVING FIVE PUPILS DEAD AND CAUSING INJURIES TO MANY OTHERS IN AGBOR, DELTA STATE.

ASABA, Dec 23, (THEWILL) - It is not over yet for the victims of a fatal overhead water tank accident, which occurred on November 02, 2010 inside the Staff Model Nursery, Primary and Secondary School (SMNPSS), Agbor, Delta state.
 
Their families have demanded the sum of N18 billion each as right of damage to the lives of the children. The demand was contained in a letter titled “Two Weeks Demand Notice of Claim for Murder/Manslaughter of Five Innocent Pupils of Staff Model Primary School, on November 2, 2010 which was signed by Mr. Augustine O. Okolie (father of late Constance C. Okolie), Elder Emmanuel Okoro (father of late Favour Okoro), Mr. F.N. Uyamasi (father of late Mary Magdalene Uyamasi), Mr. Nimbidu Kiyem (father of late Franca Nimbidu and Mrs. Ibe (a widow and mother of late Clinton Ibe) and addressed to the provost of the college.
 
According to the letter, the demand of the N18 billion for each of the pupils must be met by the authorities of the College of Education, Agbor within 14 days starting from Monday, December 20, 2010.

“Failing to comply with the above demand within 14 days of this demand notice, a legal action will be instituted against the College of Education, Agbor and all the authorities concerned”, the letter added.
 
With deep anguish and unforgettable loss, the parents said: “Having waited patiently for your (the authorities of the college) invitation but to no avail, we have lost confidence in you and the inter-ministerial committee on the collapsed overhead water tank purportedly set up by the Delta State Government.”

While saying that the collapsed water tank was carelessly positioned in a dangerous spot beside the late children’s classroom, they observed that the water tank stands (stanchion) had very shallow foundation of approximately one foot below the earth surface.
 
The bereaved parents alleged that the stands of the stanchion carrying the water tank were already deteriorating before it (the tank) collapsed “yet the school authority in criminal negligence proceeded to pump water into the tank resulting to its fall and thereby murdering the five innocent pupils in their classroom during a lesson period,” the parents wrote.
 
They noted with utter dismay, the swift way in which the fallen overhead water tank and the collapsed classroom were hurriedly reconstructed within the first two weeks of the disaster without regard to the families who were affected by the unforgettable death of the children.