Collapsed building: No plan to evict occupants –Lagos

Lagos State government yesterday said it had no plan to evict the seven tenants at 7, Saidu Okeleji Street, Meiran in Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) where a shop under construction caved in, killed a mother and her daughter.

This came as government said it would prosecute owner of the building for going against the notices served and building illegally, leading to the collapse and the loss of lives.

Commiserating with those who lost their loved ones, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Wasiu Anifowoshe, appealed to property owners and developers to henceforth adhere strictly to the planning and building law and regulations to forestall re-occurrence of building collapse.

Anifowoshe blamed the incident on heavy loads placed on the building and substandard materials used for the construction work.

He said the call became imperative in view of the need for property owners and developers to be mindful of the fact that people would reside in these structures and their lives were valuable.

According to the commissioner, government is deeply concerned about the attitude of some developers not building in accordance with the relevant building rules and is therefore appealing to all owners and developers to build right for the safety of lives of Lagosians.

Also speaking on the possible evacuation of other occupants living in the main building at the scene of the collapsed structure, the General Manager, Lagos State Building Control Agency, Olalekan Shodeinde, an engineer, said the building was intact and that there was no plan to evacuate or evict the occupants.

Shodeinde noted that only the collapsed structure was found to have been built without approval after all the necessary contravention notices were served on the building.

The commissioner added that a few months ago, during normal monitoring activity, it was observed that a small existing shop in front of the bungalow tenement building was being raised a floor higher.

He said: “The rubble of the collapsed structure show evidence of usage of very inferior quality building materials and bad concrete mix for the structural member. This coupled with the use of nonprofessionals for the construction and the inclement weather which will weaken the structural members thus leading to the eventual collapse.