Lagos State government, yesterday, began the removal of a partially collapsed building at No. 70, Adetola Street, Aguda Surulere, Lagos.
The building partially collapsed on Wednesday.
Residents narrowly escaped being trapped under the rubble of the two-storied structure, which consisted of six flats and eight shops.
When The Guardian visited the scene, it found that the building, which was constructed under high tension cables, had been marked for removal by both the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) and Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory (LSMTL).
Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, said the owner of the building had been given enough time to rectify defects before it came down on Wednesday.
He said: “We are bringing down the building to save lives. The building has been marked by LASBCA, Safety Commission and LSMTL. So, we have to bring it down to ground zero to avoid a secondary incident.”
Asked about buildings under the high tension cables in the area, he said: “We will look at other buildings in the area holistically because our government is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. We must have empathy in anything we are doing. We will do a lot of sensitisation and look at the intricate factors before we take our decision.”
Meanwhile, the Niger State government has considered the prosecution of owners of collapsed buildings in the state.
The decision followed the collapse of a two-storied building at the Sabon Gwari area of Minna, the state capital, last week.
The State Urban Development Board (NUDB), in collaboration with Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), jointly coordinated demolition of the remainder of the building.
Speaking to newsmen while supervising the demolition, Director General of NUDB, Abdullahi Jimada Gana Mohammed, said the board had invited the owner for discussion, adding that after the meeting, the board might prosecute him for failing to abide by rules and regulations.
“In recent days, the board has pulled down between three and five houses that fell below the building standard in Minna city, and will continue in other parts of the state,” he said.
