Lagos to prosecute engineer, owner of collapsed Maryland building

Orders statewide revalidation of existing construction permits

Lagos State government has vowed to prosecute the owner and engineer handling the two-storeyed building that collapsed at 13 Wilson Mba, Arowojobe Estate, Maryland, Lagos, and led to the death of five construction workers.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on E-Geographic Information Services and Urban Development, Dr Olajide Babatunde, disclosed this when he led top government officials on a visit to the incident site and inspection of other defective buildings in the estate.

According to him, the state will not be prosecuting them because the building went down, but for not doing a revalidation of the approval they got from the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) before they recommenced construction; refusal to listen to government officials when served with all necessary notices; and for leaving people under the building without certification.

Babatunde, who said the engineer has been arrested while the owner is still at large, vowed to follow through the process to ensure the culprits are brought to book.

He said: “It is a very sad day in Lagos that we have another building collapse when we think that building collapse should never happen again.
“There was no reason for the people that died there to be under the rubble because people are not supposed to be on site after 7:00 p.m. You are not supposed to occupy a building until that building has been certified by LASBCA.

“We have a certificate of completion and fitness for habitation. If we have not certified that building for habitation, you are not supposed to be under that roof. If you are under that roof, it is a criminal offence.

“We will be going around, and if we see anyone sleeping in a building that has not been certified, we will arrest them.
“Any good government has the duty to protect her citizens, mainly the downtrodden. The poor people on the sites, you did not provide accommodation for them, yet you put them under buildings that are not certified.

“I will also say here and now that it is an unfortunate incident. We are not going to absolve ourselves of any blame; we are going to take full responsibility.”

Babatunde also announced the revocation of all existing building commencement certifications, stressing that anyone who possesses such should seek a revalidation from LASBCA, no matter who is involved. He advised residents to ensure that every building they intend to rent has approval from the Lagos Planning Information Centre (LASPIC).

“Do not rent a building that does not have a building approval. I, the commissioner, and my counterpart from the office of physical planning have got approval from the governor to extend the amnesty for regularising building approvals.

“So, we give you that period. Beyond the period, if your building is not captured in our database, we will mark it and ask you to quit and move out of it. Please, visit LASPIC. All building approvals are supposed to be archived there. If you have approval and your building is not on that platform, go there.

It is going to be interactive.

“Members of the public, from the comfort of their homes, can go online and visit LASPIC and check whether their houses have approval.” Speaking, the General Manager of LASBCA, Gbolahan Owodunni Oki, lamented that developers have refused to do the right thing and called on whistleblowers to help the agency as it doesn’t have the numbers to station staff on a particular site after serving the necessary notices. He expressed optimism that the Certified Accreditors Programme (CAP) will help curb the menace of building collapse once it is in place in another couple of weeks.

Also, the Director of the Inspectorate and Quality Control, Ikeja division, LASBCA, Mrs Florence Agbaye, lamented that the developer did not invite officials for stage inspection during the recommencement of construction in the building.

She stressed that during the monitoring, it was noticed that the site had been constructed to the first-floor slab, and all necessary notices were being served to stop the work. Still, the developer continued the construction, and afterwards, the collapse happened.