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Govt not ready to get it right – Expert
On November 1, 2021, a 21-storey building, which was being developed by Fourscore Homes, collapsed in the Ikoyi axis of Lagos State, causing the death of 46 people, while 15 others were rescued.
Femi Osibona, the owner of Fourscore Homes, was among those who died in the incident. The site of the building housed three high-rise structures.
Since the Ikoyi high-rise collapse, no fewer than seven other similar incidents have been recorded in other parts of the country, including the nation’s federal capital, Abuja, Daily Trust findings have shown.
Lagos worst hit
Among the cases of building collapse reviewed, Lagos State is the worst hit as it recorded nine out of the 11 incidents.
Lagos State recorded another major building collapse when a 7-storey building under construction caved in on Sunday morning.
The building was located along Oba Idowu Oniru Street, near Ave Maria Hospital in the high-brow Victoria Island.
Six people have been confirmed dead as of Monday when emergency responders were rounding off the operation.
In the preliminary update made available to our correspondents, LASEMA Permanent Secretary, Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyitolu, said six people were trapped under the rubble.
NEMA expressed worry that work continued at the site of the collapsed building despite the fact that the structure had been sealed by the Lagos State government about eight months ago.
NEMA coordinator, Lagos Territorial Office Ibrahim Farinloye said the actions of both the owner of the property and the developer clearly violated the state building and control laws.
Again, Lagos was in the news on Sunday, May 1, as a three-story building collapsed at 32, Ibadan Street, Ebute-meta, in the Lagos Mainland Local Government Area.
According to a tweet by the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service (LSFRS), the building collapsed at about 9:48pm, on Sunday, May 1, 2022. Ten bodies, including those of a mother and her son, were recovered from the rubble, while several others sustained injuries.
In Imo State, South-East, no fewer than nine victims including a family of seven were rescued after a two-storey building under construction collapsed in early hours of April 27, 2022, at Area 5 Extension in Umuguma, Owerri West LGA of Imo State. The incident happened around 12:30pm.
On November 17, 2021, barely two weeks after a skyscraper collapsed in Ikoyi, a storey building under construction at Flourmill Estate, Magbon, near Badagry, came down, killing four people and injuring five others.
A witness, Oluwagbenga Ogundele, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the building caved in on nine construction workers on site around 3pm. Ogundele, who works as a security guard near the site, said residents were alerted to the scene of the site.
“The visitor was not in the building when it collapsed. We were able to rescue five alive because they were calling for help, while four of them gave up the ghost,” he had said.
On April 25, no fewer than six members of the Deeper Life Bible Church, located in the Iragbo community in Badagry, sustained serious injuries when the church building collapsed during a heavy storm while the service was in progress.
One of the Church members who was also a victim, Mr. Topohozin Tunde, told newsmen that six members of were injured.
In yet another incident that occurred at Bariga, Lagos there was panic on Sunday night, August 21, when another building collapsed on Adeleye Street, Lady Lark. Two children died while three adults sustained varying degrees of injuries. LASEMA Permanent Secretary, Oke-Osanyintolu, in a situation report made available to journalists, confirmed the fatalities.
Similarly, three persons were confirmed dead and about four others including a security guard and construction workers were reportedly trapped on Saturday, February 12, after a three-story building under construction on Akanbi Crescent, in the Yaba area of Lagos collapsed. The incident occurred barely three months after a 21-story building in Ikoyi.
On Saturday, May 21, three persons were confirmed dead and two others rescued after a three-story building collapsed at 4 Alayaki Lane, Freeman, Lagos Island shortly after a downpour.
The structure which was under construction had been reportedly sealed by officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LABSCA).
But Oke-Osanyintolu said the developer continued clandestine operations mostly at night and over the weekends.
On August 25, 2022, residents of Kubwa, a satellite town in Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), were thrown into panic after a two-story building collapsed, killing two persons and leaving five others injured.
The building which was under construction collapsed on Hamza Abdullahi Street off Gado Nasco Road. The incident happened on that fateful Thursday night, at about 11:30 pm.
Elsewhere in Rivers State, a three-story building also collapsed on popular Bende Street, Old Port Harcourt Township. According to eyewitnesses, the building, which was constructed several decades ago, caved in at about 2.00 am on June 29, 2022.
However, it was said that no life was lost just as there were no occupants in the building.
“The building was one of the oldest buildings in Port Harcourt known as a colonial building. I believe it is one of the abandoned properties in Port Harcourt after the civil war. It caved in at about 2.00 am Wednesday but no life was lost. There were no occupants in the building as of the time it collapsed,” an eyewitness said.
Govt not ready to get it right – Expert
A structural expert, Engr. Victor Oyenuga has expressed regret that the government was not ready to get it right in the building industry, blaming the recurrence of the incidents on the government’s failure to implement many past recommendations on building collapse.
Oyenuga, a former president of the Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers (NISE), also said the government lacked the capacity to effectively supervise buildings and avoid recurring incidents of building collapse across the country.
He said; “If the building was sealed, why did the people go back to the site? A building is not something you carry out under cover.”
Asked when the nation would get it right, he said, “The truth is that the government is not prepared. If the government is prepared, they would have found a solution to it. We have proposed several solutions.”
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