The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, the Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, advised regulatory agencies against compromising building standards to prevent unnecessary deaths and disasters. Martins,in a statement through the Director of Social Communications of the Archdiocese , Rev. Fr. Anthony Godonu, described the rate at which buildings are collapsing in Lagos and other parts of the country as alarming. He urged regulatory agencies to ensure they enforced building codes to prevent unnecessary disasters.
The Archbishop said that the cases could have been prevented if proper regulation and strict monitoring by relevant supervisory authorities were in force. Martins expressed delight at the state government’s setting up of an independent panel of inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the collapse of the building. He expressed the hope that those culpable would be made to face the penalty. “We hope that as the panel unravels the immediate and remote causes of the collapse, it would also identify ways of ensuring that we do not experience such disasters again,” he said.
The cleric called for three days of mourning for the repose of the souls of those who lost their lives in the collapsed building. He commiserated with Governor SanwoOlu and the families of those who lost their lives in the collapsed building.