“Currently, there are a lot of distressed buildings in Lagos right now
and we have taken inventory of them. Hopefully, in the next two to
three months, we are going to try to address the situation one by
one.”
A three-storey building has collapsed at No. 22, Nkisi Aroli Street,
Onitsha in Anambra State following a downpour just as the Babajide
Sanwo-Olu administration admits that there are a lot of "distressed
buildings" in Lagos State.
Similarly, Onitsha custodial centre's fence was also brought down due
to the heavy rain.
The police spokesperson in the state, Haruna Mohammed, confirmed the
incidents, saying: “The building collapsed today (Wednesday) due to
downpour. No casualty recorded and value of property damaged is yet to
be ascertained.”
Meanwhile, the General Manager, Lagos State Building Control Agency
(LASBCA), Mrs. Abiola Kosegbe, has said a lot of buildings in the
state were distressed.
She spoke at a stakeholders’ meeting on collapsed building organised
by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) in Alausa
yesterday.
Kosegbe said, “We intend to come out with a lot of things that will
help in preventing building collapse. Usually, when distressed
structures are identified, we mark them and the owners are expected to
take them down or perform needed repairs. But now, the government is
being proactive and we try most times take action before such building
collapse.
“Currently, there are a lot of distressed buildings in Lagos right now
and we have taken inventory of them. Hopefully, in the next two to
three months, we are going to try to address the situation one by
one,” she said.
Director-General of LASEMA, Dr. Femi Oke-Osayintolu, said the meeting
was called following the need for a holistic approach in preventing
building collapse.