Aggrieved youths of Urua Ekpa community in Itu Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State have begun mobilisation for a mass protest after the death of a construction worker identified as Marvelous.
It was gathered that the deceased was trapped for hours under a collapsed underground drainage system undertaken by Benest Engineering Ltd at the weekend.
It was learnt that human error and poor rescue operation led to the death of the worker, Leadership reports.
Confirming the incident, a resident of the area, Mfon Udo, said he personally assisted in the rescue operation.
“The victim could have been rescued alive, but for lack of earth-moving equipment like excavator, which forced us to join in digging the spot for over four hours to get at his remains heavily pressed down in the rubbles.
“The structure collapsed under the weight and vibration of a motorized equipment that was packing and ferrying the chipping stones closer to the underground, where the victim, a mason man, was trapped, while trying to pour the cement and concrete mixture in the construction of the underground water tunnel.
“A job of this magnitude could be awarded to a local contractor as a political compensation to the firm owned by Elder Benji Udobia, the political leader of Esit Eket Local Government Area.”
He, therefore, urged the State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, to cancel the contract and re-award it to major company with excellent safety standards like the Julius Berger.
The contractor has reportedly abandoned the project following threats by the community youths to launch a protest against the alleged negligence that led to the sad incident.
