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Tayo Olanipekun
The Lagos State Government at the weekend said the owner of the property at Kole Street, Ebute Metta, was responsible for the collapse of his building which occurred as a result of the unlawful demolition carried out without obtaining the necessary demolition permit and without supervision from the Agency or registered Structural Engineer.
According to a statement issued by the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Wasiu Anifowose, the building came down as a result of an illegal ongoing demolition being carried out by unscrupulous persons who did not deem it fit to involve officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA).
“The building in question did not just collapse, it was under unlawful demolition by the property owner who circumvented the law and took advantage of the day being a Saturday to carry out his illicit act. The owner did not obtain demolition permit from us and did not use any professional on site, that’s why the building came down.
“Unfortunately for him, the heavy downpour stopped the workers half way into the act. When the rain started, the demolition was abandoned and the heavy downpour made the remaining unremoved portion of the building to come down on a fence in the next compound.
“One of the victims, a woman who was injured, was said to have rushed into her shop to remove some wares. The other was one of the workers engaged by the owner of the property to carry out the illegal demolition,” he said.
Anifowose said with the timely intervention of the rescue operation team of the Lagos State government, the two casualties were rescued and taken to the Ebute Metta Health Center and the Lagos Mainland General Hospital.
“Our officers from the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) visited the site immediately to assess the situation and then sealed off the building from any further activity. We will also ensure that the owners who are at large are arrested and prosecuted,” Anifowose said.
He added that the state government would not condone any form of illegality from any property owner or developer who circumvented the building laws. He emphasized that any one caught would be prosecuted appropriately.
Meanwhile, in a related development, the General Manager Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) Mr. Adesina Tiamiyu, said another body was discovered on Saturday night under the debris during the post disaster clearing of the site of the collapsed building, bringing the total number of mortality to four persons, while those rescued alive remains 19 persons- all male.
According to him “the body who is yet to be identified has since been deposited by the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit, SEHMU at the Mainland Hospital Mortuary.”
The LASEMA GM stated that the Agency will carry out a clean up of the site as soon as the site was completely recovered at ground zero, to forestall public health issues in the area.
