Rivers seals Port Harcourt building after partial collapse injures four
The Rivers State Government has evacuated and cordoned off an ageing two-storey building in Old Port Harcourt Township after part of the structure collapsed on Friday night, injuring four people.
The building at No. 18 Club Road suffered a partial collapse that sent debris onto the ground floor, where people were gathered at a bar.
Rivers State Police spokesperson Blessing Agabe confirmed that four people were injured and taken to hospital. No death was reported.
Government orders occupants out
The state Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development ordered occupants to leave the premises after Commissioner Amairigha Edward Hart inspected the building on Saturday.
The property was subsequently cordoned off and marked unfit for habitation while authorities assess whether it can be restored or should be demolished.
The ministry said the structure appeared to be more than 50 years old. Other accounts from residents have described it as more than 60 years old, but no documentary record establishing its exact age has been produced publicly.
Cause still under investigation
Officials have not issued a final technical finding explaining why the section of the building failed.
Government-linked reporting described the collapsed section as involving a roof slab and front balcony extension, while other eyewitness-based accounts referred to a parapet falling from the upper floor.
The ministry has therefore kept the building closed pending further structural investigation.
That distinction matters: the collapse and the building’s distressed condition are established, but the evidence available does not yet prove negligence by an owner, regulator or any other party.
Rivers expands checks on ageing buildings
The incident has also widened scrutiny beyond Club Road.
Hart said the ministry had begun auditing older buildings in Port Harcourt, extending checks from parts of Diobu to other areas of the city as authorities try to identify structures that could endanger occupants.
For residents of No. 18 Club Road, the immediate consequence is displacement from a building authorities now consider unsafe.
The next accountability test is whether the state’s inspection programme can identify dangerous structures before another section gives way — and what happens to buildings found to be unsafe.