A three-storey building has reportedly collapsed in Kakawa street, Lagos Island on Monday.
According to a resident of the street, no one was trapped because the building was marked for demolition and occupants had vacated.
The collapsed structure, however, affected a bungalow with three occupants.
Details shortly….
THE Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) has called on states to adopt its Projects’Registration Number (APRN) initiative, which was introduced to, among others, reduce the menace of building collapse.
Its President of the Council, Dipo Ajayi, WHO spoke to reporters, was reacting to collapsed building in Lagos and other parts of the country.
According to Ajayi, the APRN System, which entails numbering architectural projects, would further tighten the loose ends in monitoring building projects.
“We want to collaborate with state governments to ensure that APRN becomes operational in all the states in country. And we have been creating awareness on this,” he said.
He added that, according to the process, architectural projects/drawings are prepared only by registered architects, submitted to ARCON and assigned the ARCON Project Registration Number (APRN) before submission for planning/implementation approvals.
The penultimate week’s building collapse, which led to the death of 20 children and adults on Lagos Island, is unfortunate and pathetic.
After the incidence, government officials disclosed that the school was unapproved. The school, which shared a building with commercial shops for many years, was proclaimed as illegal. What has the Inspectorate department of the Ministry of Education been doing before the collapse, which exposed their compromise? Can they claim ignorance of the existence of the school?
After the collapse of the building, the government swung into action to demolish some other weak buildings in the area. What has the state building regulatory authority and the relevant Ministry been doing about the so called weak buildings? I do hope they won’t go back to sleep. Why do governments at the federal, state and local levels wait for disasters to happen before they wake up to their responsibilities? This non- challant attitude sad.
In August 2017, I boarded an aircraft in Nigeria and the interior of the aircraft, including the seats, could be likened to a glorified molue commercial bus. The sound and interior of the aircraft clearly revealed that that it was nothing but a flying casket. Within that period, I featured an article on air safety in this column where I reported the experience. Few days after the article was published, there was a report that the door of an aircraft fell off while landing. What would have happened to the people in the aircraft and those on ground, if the aircraft was already airborne when the door fell off?
We give God the glory for the safety in our airspace for some years. The safety standards of some of the aircraft being used for domestic flights call for proactive attention and decisions to avert air disasters. There must be regular monitoring and uncompromised enforcement of maintenance and safety standards.
Similarly, there are many vehicles plying our roads that are nothing but mobile caskets. The National Road Traffic Regulations clearly states that vehicle occupants must wear the seat belts. Over 80 per cent of the vehicles in Nigeria, particularly the commercial vehicles, have no functional seat belts for passengers or occupants. The seats of most of the commercial buses have been dangerously reconstructed to the level that seat belts cannot be attached to them. In addition, there are many iron dangerously exposed in several commercial buses that make injuries and death so easy even in low impact cases of road traffic crashes. The question is, what have the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and the Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIOs) been doing that we still have so many substandard vehicles on the roads, also overloading Nigerians dangerously on the roads? Are the lives of the people not as important as the lives of the VIPs?
I have embarked on many research on transportation and road safety the results of which will take many books. One case I will, however, mention here is the hazardous impunity on the roads. I have seen uncountable numbers of the Nigeria Police (VP) vehicles moving on the road without head lamps, traffic indicators (pointers), break lights, reverse lights, side mirrors and inside mirrors while some of the vehicles are sincerely not roadworthy.
Yet, they do move freely on the roads in the states and even the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Do they have road traffic immunity? Is the NP above the road traffic law? Many roads around the Police stations are littered with arrested vehicles causing traffic changes with impunity.
Likewise, I have seen many log – carry trucks and vehicle towing vans in their rickety forms moving on the roads without head lamps, brake lights, turn-indicators and other essentials with impunity. Are they also above the law? Who is compromising in these cases?
The government, Nigerians, the United Nations are bothered about the high rate of road traffic crashes, injuries and deaths in the country. There will only be solution when those in authority and other Nigerians get more uncompromisingly committed to doing the right thing at the right time towards the common purpose of ensuring safety on the airspace and roads.
The Lagos State chapter of National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) has urged private school owners to endeavour to build their school structures themselves, rather than depend on a leased or developers’ building to operate.
The association’s President of the association, Mr Wasiu Adumadeyin, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos that this was to ensure that the school building conformed with specified standard and that the quality of material used were of recommended quality.
Adumadeyin spoke against the backdrop of the collapsed three-storey building housing a school at Ita-Faji area of Lagos Island which killed 20 people.
NAN reports that the building collapsed on March 13 at about 10 a.m. when classes were ongoing and among those killed were school children, while 48 others were injured and some still receiving treatment in some public hospitals in Lagos.
“NAPPS is more saddened because of the life of the young ones that we lost, and we sympathise with the family of the deceased and pray for the quick recovery of those injured.
“What is worth doing at all is worth doing well, so our advice to our members is to build their school building themselves.
“Considering the use in which the building will be put into, with emphasis on the safety of the children who are vulnerable,” he said.
Adumadeyin noted that if it was impossible for the proprietors to build schools themselves due to land and financial constraints, they must involve an architect who could confirm the state of the building and renovate it in accordance with recommended standard.
“I agree that some private schools are not doing it right, though they are few, their actions tarnish the image of the good schools.
“Most public schools in Lagos State have good structures although the quality of teaching and learning standard may be questionable.
“As school owners, we should think about safety first because students should not be accommodated in a risky environment for whatever reasons,” he said.
Adumadeyin revealed that the association had also visited the scene of the collapsed building in spite of the fact that the owner was not their member and had supported some of the injured at general hospital, Marina with cash.
He said NAPPS had also concluded plans to partner with the Lagos State Government to ensure such incidents never reccurred, especially in schools. (NAN)
The Ita-Faji, Lagos Island building collapse has, once again, brought to the fore the frequency of the problem nation-wide. Concerned citizens are pointing fingers at developers for shoddy construction by adding floors to existing buildings and compromising their integrity. The government, some professionals claim, are culpable because of poor or lack of regulation. OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE seeks stakeholders’views.
The unfortunate building collapse, which occurred last week on Lagos Island, has raised a lot of concerns. The ill-fated three-storey structure with a pent house, housing Ohen Nursery and Primary School, collapsed at about 10am, leaving many pupils and a few adults dead. Its owner was, however, rescued alive with other members of his family. The building, it was learnt, got renovated and managed by a developer who has a 10-year lease, which started in 2010.
The Nation gathered that most of the buildings in the area were already marked for structural audit/demolition, and the collapsed building, approved for residential purpose, but used for commercial purposes, was one of those marked.
Nigeria Institute of Architects (NIA), Lagos Chapter Chairman, Fitzgerald Umah, said the lack of resolve by the government to stem this tide of carnage, has clearly shown that bureaucracy and the need to accommodate certain interests are counterproductive, adding that the building had been reportedly marked for demolition before the incident.
He said the Lagos chapter of NIA had canvassed the option of assisting the relevant authorities and agencies at all levels on the repeated intention of government to sanitise the unwholesome built environment and monitor buildings under construction for both compliance with statutory requirements, design suitability and structural stability.
He wondered why it has been difficult and seemingly impossible to implement the laws and proffered solutions spanning over a decade with the ratification of the National Building Code, which ratified the minimum standard for the construction Industry.
Fitzgerald called on Lagos State government to, without delay, genuinely start full implementation of the law and solutions proffered by the relevant professionals several years ago. None implementation and enforcement of these laws have made abuse and flouting of the laws possible.
Nigeria Institute of Building (NIOB) 1st Vice President, Mr. Kunle Awobodu in a chat with The Nation maintained that many buildings on Lagos lsland are sick as they were not professionally designed or built. According to him, they are constructed by developers who are business men with little knowledge about the complexities associated with construction.
To him, the collapse could have been prevented if government and the regulatory agencies had taken their duties seriously. He stressed that buildings handled by developers can never meet stipulated standards in the construction sector as their motive is driven by profit.
On what may have caused the collapse, the NIOB boss said unfortunately there are too many interests over the small portion of land on the lsland. Most buildings of the Island, he said, have inadequate air space, are too close to each other and have too many family members interested in them for pecuniary gains.
He said: “Unfortunately most developers do not understand the complexities in the building process. They are mostly driven by profit with total disregard to regulatory provisions and human lives. The regulatory agencies need to double their efforts to investigate buildings under construction and those already constructed, to ensure that they are built according to laid down regulations. From our studies we have over 1,000 buildings unfit for human habitation on Lagos lsland.”
The Nigeria Institution of Civil Engineers (NICE), Lagos State chapter has also asked regulatory authorities in the Built-Environment to implement stricter regulatory authority to sanitise the sector. They urged the government to do more to ensure that regulatory authorities are empowered to discharge their duties, punish infractions and sanitise the sector.
NICE Chairman, Lagos branch, Mrs Lola Adetona, has absolved engineers of culpability in the spate of building collapse in Lagos. She, however, blamed quacks who venture into construction without any requisite knowledge of the complexities in the sector. In a session with The Nation in Lagos, she maintained that a quack would never know the right mix ratio and aggregates of concrete and sand. She said she said she would not be able to supervise a construction site effectively and should therefore, not be allowed under any condition to superintend such process.
She lamented that quacks had taken over the jobs of professionals as some would-be clients prefer to deal with them, citing cost implications.
Commenting on the building that collapsed, she wondered how a school could have been allowed to operate in that building and in such an environment. She also wondering how the necessary approvals from the relevant government ministries and agencies were got.
Adetona revealed that from investigations the building was originally a residential and wondered how it was allowed to accommodate a school and other businesses. She noted that there is a wide difference between a residential building and a commercial one in terms of design and load.
“The load design for residential buildings are different from commercial buildings and if the order is changed without the necessary adjustment the result will turn out ugly as we are witnessing now. To check incessant building collapse the government, the professionals and the public should synergise by sharing information and ensuring proper regulation and implementation of available laws,”she said.
NICE National Vice Chairman, Tokunbo Ajanaku, said building collapse can occur due to several reasons, which include the age of the building, if not maintained as every building is constructed to last 50 years. He encouraged stakeholders’ collaboration to ensure that there is no repeat of the ugly incident.
He also asked the government to strengthen the existing agencies and ensure strict adherence to building code and construction standards, urging the public to consciously be part of the vanguard to sanitise the sector by complaining to relevant agencies and professional bodies when they believe something is wrong with a particular construction.
He said: “If you see a construction going on with defects report to us and we will report to the government and ensure that necessary sanctions are given out when there is default. The regulatory bodies need to ensure that what they approved is what is constructed. For instance, a building approved as residential should not be converted without changing the dynamics. Once you introduce none designed load to a building such as a dead load like generator or any of such that was not envisaged in the original drawing you are looking for trouble. There should be proper appraisal and retrofitting if you convert the use of building.”
The Chairperson, Women Empowerment and Legal Aid (WELA), Mrs. Funmi Falana, has asked the Chief Registrar of the High Court of Lagos State to conduct an inquest into the cause of the collapse of a four-storey building, which occurred at Massey Street, Ita-Faji, Lagos.
About 18 persons died and 41 injured in the incident, which occurred at about 10:20am on March 13.
The third floor housed Oben Private Nursery and Primary School. Many pupils were trapped.
Mrs. Falana, in her letter addressed to the Chief Registrar yesterday, urged her to use the platform of the inquest to make recommendations pursuant to Section 15 of the Lagos State Coroner Law 2007.
“The law provides that an inquest shall hold whenever a coroner is informed that the death of a person within his coroner district was as a result of death “in a violent, unnatural or suspicious situation”, she said.
“In view of the high rate of occurrence of this building collapse, especially on Lagos Island, it will be appreciated if the inquest is conducted without delay and report made public to forestall such ugly recurrence,” she said.
The Chairman of the Ibadan branch of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Adedamola Falade-Fatila, has hinged the rising cases of building collapse on quackery and compromise in standards.
Falade-Fatila told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan yesterday that the problem of collapsed building would cease the moment everyone played the role expected of him.
“If every client, builder or developer consults a registered engineer to design their structures, we won’t find ourselves in this situation,” Falade-Fatila said in response to the recent cases of building collapse in Lagos and Ibadan.
“This is purely the result of quackery and compromises in materials, skilled labour and so on.
“It is as they say in computer, garbage in, garbage out, what you put in is what you get.
“If you put in expertise, quality and professionalism, you will get a solid structure that will stand out and stand the test of time.
“The one that collapsed in Ibadan is still under construction and it gave way; that tells you that something is wrong somewhere.”
He said the association had been engaged in sensitisation programmes to encourage the use of engineers for projects.
“If you have a structure that is above two floors, get a registered structural engineer, and if it is not up to that, get a registered engineer to do your design for you.
“In doing that, the engineer will give you advice and supervise your project so that there would be no compromise by the time the structure is being put up.
“If you meet anyone who claims to be an engineer, ask for his proof; in the age we are now, it is easy to know a registered engineer.
“You can check on the internet; registered engineers have their names compiled by the Council for the Regulation of the Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).
“Google COREN and check the person’s status by typing in his or her name; if the person is truly registered, you will find his or her name and address there.
“Anyone who claims to be an engineer and his name is not in the database of NSE and COREN is a quack,” he said.
•Blames quackery for building collapse in Ibadan, Lagos
The Oyo State chapter of the Nigeria Institute of Architects (NIA) has warned that there are more disasters on building collapse waiting to happen in major cities of Lagos, Ibadan and others if government fail to carry integrity test on buildings.
He blamed the influx of untrained impostors in building construction for the recent occurrences of building collapse in Lagos and Ibadan.
Speaking yesterday, at the scene of the collapsed building in Ibadan, NIA chairman, Arc Bode Gbolade, said the building collapsed because of the use of quacks in the construction, adding that real professionals were not involved in the building construction.
He said “we pray we wouldn’t have more, but the reality is that there are more disasters waiting to happen.”
The Lagos State Building Control Agency (LABSCA) yesterday began the demolition of defective buildings on the Lagos Island.
Men of the agency’s task force pulled down a three-storey building on 60A, Freeman Street, Epetedo area.
The demolition exercise is not unconnected with the Wednesday incident around the same area, where a four-storey building collapsed, killing over 10 people and leaving scores injured.
LABSCA official, Mr. Omotayo Fakolujo, told The Nation that the property owner had been served several notices dating back to 2013 before the demolition.
He said that over 150 houses on the Lagos Island have been identified for demolition.
“On the Lagos Island, we have over 150 houses marked for demolition. We have removed over 30 in the last one year and we are going to be removing them in phase. What we are trying to do is to remove occupants from all these structures that have been marked so that no life is lost in Lagos. For now on Lagos Island alone, we have a clear court case approval of over 80 cases and 80 structures that are ready for removal and we will do it in phases systematically from today (yesterday) so that life will be comfortable for Lagosisns. We will remove three today on Lagos Island. And for the houses that are still occupied, we are going to evict the occupants of the structures because their lives are more important to us.
“On our mode of demolishing, these structures are so close by; we have to remove them systematically, manually so that we can ensure that there is safety. The exercise is not prompted by the recent collapsed building. Before this incident, we had removed over 10 structures within Ajeromi Ifemodun and Apapa within the Ijora axis,” he said.
Contrary to previous experiences, residents and passers-by on Freeman Street, Epetedo, Lagos, praised the officials for the demolition exercise.
No fewer than 18 persons died yesterday when a four-storey building collapsed on Lagos Island. Forty-one others were injured.
The incident occurred at No 14, Massey Street, Opposite Oja, Ita-Faaji.
The building, housing Ohen Private Nursery and Primary School on its third floor, caved in at about 10:20am, trapping scores of pupils.
Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Jide Idris, who confirmed the casualty figure, said many of the rescued were taken to Lagos Island General Hospital, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), among others.
The Nation learnt that the large number of casualties sparked a shortage of blood with the general hospital calling for donors.
Idris said rescue efforts will continue today.
According to Lagos State Emergency management Agency (LASEMA) General Manager Adeshina Tiamiyu, over 41 people were rescued from the rubble of the building, which had been marked for demolition since 2014.
An eyewitness, Abayomi Olaniyan, said he was among those rescuing the victims before the official rescue team came.
Olaniyan, said: “Some were rescued alive, some dead. One of the teachers still called shortly that she was on the ground floor of the collapsed building, trapped with 20 pupils.
“Something similar happened around here last year. The issue of building collapse is common here and government must do something about it. Houses will be marked and due for demolition but they will not demolish it; they will renovate it. So many houses here are weak; they are meant to be demolished but they will tell you they are renovating it; they will only paint it.”
An eyewitness, Bola Ogunyemi, said: “The pupils were already lined up from their third floor classes when the school owner noticed that the building was cracking. Before the kids could be arranged from their classes, the building had collapsed”. The school owner and some kids have been taken to the hospital.”
Some youths who are resident in the area were complaining that the rescue efforts were slow.
Since they were told to leave the scene, nobody was removed for about 30 minutes, they said at about 5p.m.
The officers and LASEMA officials, the boys said, were not doing enough.
Some of the boys were recalled to the scene.
The casualties
The school owner was among the first casualties.
She was taken to the General Hospital, where she died after efforts by the medicals to save her proved abortive.
A distraught mother of two victims urged the rescuers to help bring out her son, Luqman, from the rubble.
The woman’s daughter, Tobi, had earlier been rescued.
Among the victims is a woman, who called his brother that she was still trapped.
She told her brother that the caterpillar was on their floor, pleading that it should be moved back
“I am under the caterpillar. Help tell the driver to move back,” the victim under the rubble told her troubled brother.
An expectant woman was among those that were pulled out of the rubble alive. A man, who was trapped in the building, was said to have come home to eat. He was yet to be rescued as at press time.
A man, Bashiru Alagbala, who came to visit his wife, was brought out dead.
A family of four – father, mother, son and grandson – was also trapped. Father, mother and grandson were rescued but the son was said to be still under the rubble.
A source told The Nation that one of the dead was a pupil, who turned 10 yesterday.
The source said: “Today (yesterday) is his birthday and it is unfortunate that he died today. I learnt that he told his mother that he did not want to go to school today (yesterday). His mother must have seen him as a lazy boy. Sometimes, these little children see what we adults do not see. His mother should have talked about why he did not want to go to school, but I learnt his mother forced him to go and he died. She must be regretting that now.”
Another source said a pair of twin brothers was also trapped in the building. One was said to have died; the other was rescued alive with serious injuries.
A woman, who refused to be named, said her daughter, Azeezat, was still trapped in the rubble. She said she had been to all the hospitals but did not find her.
A former teacher in the school, Bukola Salami, said the building had been shaking since last year.
“I worked in the school for six months and I resigned last December because the building was shaking. When I was in the school, I used to hear sounds as if someone was throwing stones from the walls. The building cracks and the walls shake at times. I told the school owner about my observations, I told her to relocate the school elsewhere, but she said there was no money for the school to be relocated. I resigned last year because of the fear that someday the building might collapse.”
Where are the victims?
A nurse at Massey Street Children Hospital, Lagos Island, told The Nation that some of the victims brought to the hospital were given first aid and transferred to other hospitals for proper medical care.
The Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Titi Gonclaves, told reporters at the Lagos Island General Hospital that five of the 20 early casualties were transferred to other hospitals after being attended to.
At the entrance of the hospital was pasted 41 names of the stable survivors: 22 females, 17 males. Two were unidentified.
Crowd hampered rescue, says Health Commissioner
Commissioner for Health Jide Idris confirmed the casualty figures of 18 deaths and 41 injured.
He lamented that the large number of spectators slowed down rescue efforts and he could not give a definite casualty figure until today.
Idris said: “Our doctors and nurses are working round the clock. A lot of them were mobilised from different hospitals down here. Doctors from federal institutions are also assisting because of the seriousness of this incident.
“We will not be able to give full information now until tomorrow (today) morning. Some have been taken to LASUTH, LUTH and we don’t know if more people will be rescued.
“The state of things now is getting calm than earlier because there were a lot of emotions.
The medical teams have done their best. It would have been done better and faster but for the crowd.
“So far all we care is to bring people out alive.”
General Hospital seeks blood donors
The Lagos Island General Hospital was last night calling for voluntary blood donors.
The hospital’s Blood Donor Clinic said it had received 50 pints of blood at press time, with more people responding to the call.
An official at the clinic, Akin, thanked the donors.
“Most of the victims brought here today (yesterday) are casualties and most of the blood donated here are majorly used for casualties.
“We screen for our donors, we check for TTI and PCV, then we check to know if the donor is fit.
The minimum requirement for a female donor is 38 percent at least, while male is 40 percent upwards. Then we also check if the female donor is not on her period, we check for malaria and other tests; if they are fit, we start the procedure.
“Blood is life, we thank the blood donors for coming out en masse to support the hospital and the government,” Olojo told The Nation.
Ambode orders probe, takes over victims’ medical expenses
Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode commiserated with families of the victims and promise to pay the victims’ medical bills.
Ambode, who visited the scene of the incident at about 2:42pm, described the incident as “unfortunate”.
He urged residents to allow rescuers space to carry out their operations.
Ambode said: “I want to commiserate with the families of those that lost their lives in this collapsed building. I want to quickly let Lagosians know that this is quite an unfortunate incident. All we are trying to do is to scale up this rescue operation.
“Our response units are already here; we are getting additional cranes to be able to go deeper than where we are now to rescue more lives.
“I just want to appeal to people that when we are doing this kind of rescue operation, yes, sympathisers will naturally come, but I want to appeal that they should give the rescue workers the chance to save more lives.”
The Governor said his Deputy, Dr. Mrs. Oluranti Adebule, was visiting hospitals where some of the victims rescued had been taken to.
“The Deputy Governor is in the hospital actually taking care of those that were rescued and taken to the hospital, most especially the children. We will immediately take care of whatever it is that we can do, including the hospital bills.
“All we are interested in now is to save more lives and also see how those that have been rescued are put in proper place and proper care,” Ambode said.
‘Several buildings marked for demolition’
Ambode said he had received information that the building was residential, with the school operating illegally within the premises.
He said most of the buildings in the area had been marked for demolition but that some property owners defied such notices. Structurally defective buildings would be demolished, he stressed, adding:
“The first observation is that this is an old building and it is only the penthouse and the other floors that we have been able to use to rescue people.
“So far, from what I have been briefed, we have rescued about 25 people and some already dead but we were earlier informed that it was a school; the building is not technically a school; it is a residential building that was actually accommodating an illegal school, so to speak, on the second floor.
“Like we have said, we have been carrying out a lot if integrity tests on the buildings in this neighborhood and, as you can see, some of them have been marked for demolition but we get resistance from landlords, but we must continue to save lives and we would intensify our efforts to see that those that have failed our integrity test, we would ensure that they are quickly evacuated and we’ll bring the structures down,” he said.
Ambode also said a probe would be carried out immediately rescue operations are concluded. Those found culpable, he promised, will be dealt with in accordance with the laws.
“This is unfortunate but we will investigate what has happened and also see the punishment for whoever are the culprits.
‘’That is the secondary level but the most important thing right now is to save lives and I just appeal to people that they should give us the chance to save more lives,” he said.
Responding to a concern raised by a resident on the increase in illegal schools in the area, Ambode said all schools that fall within that category would be closed down.
‘Why LASEMA couldn’t bring in heavy equipment’
LASEMA General Manager Adeshina Tiamiyu said the environment did not allow the agency to bring in bigger equipment.
He said: “So far, over 40 people have been rescued by joint efforts of the community. They had rescued many people and we came and joined them with the efforts of other agencies.
“The work we have done here today has been by the help of this community and those of us in the official rescue team. They had been rescuing people before we came. We are trying to decide where to rescue them from. But we are doing our best.
“We must get to the bottom of the building, and account for everybody that they claim is in the building.”
Private owners disown school
Two main private school associations – the Association for Formidable Educational Development (AFED) and the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) – denied any link with the collapsed school.
The National President of AFED, the umbrella group of private schools for low-income earners, Mr Emmanuel Orji, said the group had no records of the school’s membership.
“We have tried searching for information about the school. I don’t think it is one of our members,” he told The Nation on phone.
In the past, the government had clamped down on AFED schools for not being registered or operating according to laid down rules and regulations.
Orji said the space constraints in the densely populated area where the collapsed school was located may have limited the choice of properties available to use for schools.
SOME OF THE SURVIVORS