Barely one month after a building collapsed on 63 Massey Street, in Ita-Faaji, Lagos Island, the State Government, has disclosed that 283 distressed buildings have been detected across the state.
Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Rotimi Ogunleye, yesterday, in Alausa, Ikeja, disclosed the statistics during a symbolic submission of report by the panel set up to investigate the immediate and remote cause(s) of the collapsed building on Massey Street where 20 persons including pupils of Ohen Nursery and Primary School died with a view of preventing future occurrence.
The commissioner, while giving details of the discovered distressed buildings, said that 136 buildings were identified as distressed in Lagos Island division alone, while 60 weak structures were detected in Ikeja division. Ogunleye added that during the enumeration carried out by Lagos State Building Control Agency, LASBCA, 33 distressed buildings were uncovered in Badagry division while 29 of such were discovered in Ikorodu division and 25 weak buildings in Epe division.
The commissioner, however, urged owners of such buildings to urgently come for the demolition approval before their structures will cave in. Meanwhile, on the report, Ogunleye assured residents that the out-going Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration would ensure the panel report was carefully studied and recommendations implemented immediately.
Panel chairman discloses fresh revelations While submitting the report, the Committee Chairman, Wasiu Olokuonla, made a fresh revelation, disclosing that the committee during it findings discovered that the investigated building had more storey than the number publicly specified.
According to him, contrary to the reports in the media, the collapsed building on Ita-Faaji was not three or two-storey, the building was a five-storey structure. Olokunola, who refused to disclose the committee’s findings and recommendations publicly, added forensic evidence were also carried out in the course of the investigations into the cause of the tragedy. Vanguard
