Lagos blames developer as building collapse kills one

File photo: Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State

The Lagos State Government has blamed alleged corner-cutting by a developer for the collapse of a three-storey building under construction in the Fadeyi area of the state, which killed one person and injured three others.

The building collapsed on Akinola Street, off Ikorodu Road.

Speaking in an interview with journalists at the scene of the incident on Friday, the Director of Operations of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Olatunde Akinsanya, said the structure had been served several notices before the incident.

Akinsanya said a distress call was received at 12.45 pm on Thursday, prompting a search-and-rescue operation involving emergency responders, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, the Lagos State Building Control Agency and the police.

He said, “Yesterday (Thursday) at 12.45 pm, we received a distress call that a three-floor building under construction suddenly collapsed.”

He added that four people were recovered from the rubble, with three sustaining injuries and one found dead.

According to Akinsanya, the incident could have been prevented if the developer had complied with the notices issued by the relevant authorities.

He said, “I can tell you that this building under construction has been served on several occasions. That should be enough to prevent this disaster.”

He attributed the collapse to an attempt to cut corners and urged stakeholders in the building industry to comply with official notices to prevent further loss of lives and property.

He said, “Once a building is served, it will save a lot of colossal loss in materials and lives. It is an attempt to cut corners that caused all of this.”

Akinsanya also disclosed that the Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory would collect samples from the rubble for integrity tests. He added that buildings around the scene with visible cracks would also be tested.

When our correspondent visited the scene on Friday, personnel of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service and the police were among those present.

Caterpillars were also seen operating at the scene, while several residents gathered around the area to observe the ongoing operation.

A red mark indicating a stop-work notice issued by the building authorities was visible on a broken section of the fence.

Pieces of wood believed to have been intended for the roofing of the collapsed building were also seen at the scene.

An eyewitness, Joseph, who lives in a three-storey building beside the collapsed structure, said he narrowly escaped being caught in the incident.

“Immediately after I entered the house, I heard the noise. When I looked out, the building had already collapsed. It was God who saved me,” he said.

Joseph explained that he usually kept his shoes on the pavement of the collapsed building and might have been trapped if he had gone to retrieve them immediately after returning home.

“If I had gone there to remove the shoe immediately I got home, the building would have collapsed on me. I couldn’t sleep in the house again yesterday. I have been in the house for two years,” he said.

A check by our correspondent showed that Joseph’s residence had also been marked as distressed by the Lagos State Building Control Agency, with an order for its removal.

A vulcaniser in the area said the collapsed structure was under construction and was about to be roofed before the incident.

However, a woman who identified herself as Simisola and said she knew the developer defended the quality of his building materials.

“Only God knows. The person who has been building, not one or two or three. He is a developer, but only God knows. He uses quality materials; it is a trailer that used to drop cement for him,” she said.

The latest incident comes weeks after one person was killed when a building partially collapsed during manual demolition in the Alimosho area of Lagos State in September.

In June, at least nine people died while 16 others were rescued with varying degrees of injuries after a building collapsed in the Alakija area of Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area of the state.