... State govt urge occupants of distressed buildings
to relocate
Two kids were on Monday injured as another three-storey
building, which was already marked for demolition, collapsed at Kakawa Street,
Lagos Island, Lagos State.
This is just as 20 persons cheated death after the marked
building caved in and fell on a nearby bungalow and another three-storey
building at its back, where they all were.
The collapse came barely two weeks after the Itafaji
building collapse on Lagos Island claimed 20 lives and a similar one at Egerton
Square, Oke Arin, injured four persons.
At Kakawa, one of the survivors, an Islamic scholar, Ahmed
Lawal, who resides at no 50A with his family, said his daughter was one of the
injured kids.
According to him, his daughter had used the toilet and was
returning, when the collapsed building fell on their structure.
He said: "When the incident happened at about 12.50pm,
majority of us (tenants) in 50A Kakawa Street were outside, trying to assist a
shop owner at the down floor of the collapsed building when it came down on
ours.
“We all took to our heels, but I immediately turned back
when I remembered that my daughter was inside.
"With the help of other people around, we were able to
rescue my daughter, Fatimo and Alaba Audu, my neighbour’s son. My daughter was
taken to Fehintola Private hospital at Bamgbose street, while Alaba was taken
to the General hospital for medical attention.”
The owner of the boutique under the collapsed building,
Muritala Ageshin, while thanking God for sparing his life and that of his
junior brother, said they were packing out their goods when the incident
occurred.
He said: “My brother and I were inside the shop packing our
good because the Lagos State government officials came last Friday and gave all
the tenants in the building quit notice with instruction that they are coming
today to demolish it.
“All of the tenants complied and packed out at weekend. We
just had some little items to pack out, which was what we were doing when we
heard a sharp sound and the building caved in. We broke the shop glass door to
escape.”
An old woman, Mrs Johnson, who was among the tenants at 50A
Kakawa street, appealed on behalf of other tenants to the state government to
come to their aid.
She said: “The LASBCA people have come to send us out
because they want to demolish our building now that it has been affected by the
other building.
“But we need a place to stay because it was the marked
building that collapsed on our own that put us in this situation. We are not
prepared for this incident. The government should assist us because we don't
have anywhere to sleep now.”
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government has urged occupants of
all distressed buildings to relocate
pending the arrival of the demolition team of Lagos State Building
Control Agency (LASBCA).
While disclosing that relief and resettlement centres have
been opened to accommodate those affected, the Commissioner for Physical
Planning and Urban Development, Prince Rotimi Ogunleye, said Monday’s incident
did not record any casualty.
He said: “The building in question had been identified as
distressed by the officers of the LASBCA and all the necessary statutory
notices had been duly served. It was one of the defective structures marked for
removal by the agency.
“Fortunately, occupants had been evacuated before the
incidents occurred. Immediately, the Lagos State Rescue Team and LASBCA were
alerted and they moved to site promptly to check all adjoining buildings so as
to evacuate the occupants to avoid any further hazards.
“Already 25 buildings have been removed by LASBCA as the
government has stepped up measures to rid the state of distressed buildings so
as to prevent loss of lives and property due to sudden collapse in the state.”
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