Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State has ordered the immediate closure of Saint Academy School and a comprehensive inquiry into the school’s collapse.
The school building collapsed on Friday while the pupils were in class, leaving twenty-two confirmed dead and one hundred and fifty-four wounded, all of whom were being treated at separate hospitals.
The governor issued the directive while touring the school’s grounds and visiting the collapsed building site to assess the situation. The principal and staff were present to welcome him.
“It is unfortunate what has happened but of course what it means is that this school is closed down immediately. We can’t take any further chances and we need to send this message particularly to owners of private schools.
“The motive for profit must not overshadow the safety of lives. And so we are going to take steps immediately to do a technical audit of all the schools, we are going to test their structural integrity to ensure that human beings can inhabit such buildings,” Muftwang said.
The state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Musa Ashoms, had in a statement on Friday lamented that the collapsed structure did not meet the standards for buildings and warned schools that have similar structures to shut down.
