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Tag: Collapsed building

  • Lekki Gardens empowers survivors of collapsed building

    Lekki Gardens empowers survivors of collapsed building

    The 11 survivors of the March 8 collapsed Lekki Gardens building were yesterday empowered by the firm to start life afresh.

    Lekki Gardens Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr. Richard Nyong gave a tricycle and N50,000 cash to each of the survivors “to start some business and pick up the pieces of their lives” again. The event took place at the firm’s premises in Lekki.

    Nyong described the gesture as the first step to redress the damage they suffered from the incident.

    He said: “On behalf of the board this is to show deepest concern and regret and to say sorry to the people that lost so much. The company’s decision is to begin to help in whatever way to correct what went wrong. In trying to do something meaningful we lost our friends, some died and some were wounded, it was a very difficult situation for everybody. We are very hurt by the accident but God saved our lives. It is very hurtful and painful, it could have been anybody.”

    According to him, no money is enough to start life again, but “the survivors can use whatever we give them now to pick up the pieces of their lives. The little money could turn out to be seeds of greatness. We pray that God will continue to help everybody affected by that incident to come out of the trauma.”

    He commiserated with the bereaved families, promising that the company also has plans to take care of them. “We are starting with the ones that are alive and very soon we shall also invite them and present to them what we have for them.”

    Nyong thanked the Lagos State Government, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), the Federal Government emergency agencies and the general hospital for their help during the incident.

    A Lekki Gardens building under construction collapsed on March 8, killing scores of people and injuring others, mostly workers.

    The beneficiaries are Elechi Chika, Tunde Busari, Waliu Rasak, Emeka Okorie, Wahab Olalude, Kayode Ezekiel, Chikodi James, Chukwudi James, Idowu Salawu, Hassan Isiaku and Tajudeen Ajani.

    Speaking on behalf of others, Elechi thanked Lekki Gardens for the gesture.

    “They were always in the hospital to encourage us and now they have capped it up with these empowerment items, we appreciate them.

    “They took very good care of us”, Elechi said.

     

  • Collapsed fence kills construction worker in Edo

    A construction worker with Hartland Construction Company has been killed after a perimetre fence belonging to one petrol station collapsed on him and four others.

    The four others escaped death as the collapsed fence and mud did not cover their faces.

    They were working on a drainage that was to link Second East Circular road to Third East Circular road when the incident occurred.

    The incident has however halted ongoing construction of the Second East Circular road.

    Eyewitnesses said it took over 30 minutes to dig out the victim identified as Moses Okhakhon from the collapsed fence.

    An eyewitness who gave his name as Friday Omosheri, said the workers noticed a warning sign of the collapse when some sand first dropped on them.

    He said they were scared of working on the drainage under the fence but was ordered back to work by one of the engineers.

    According to him, “The workers were working on the site when the fence came down. They saw some signs and they said the fence will fall. The other engineer said who does not want to work should go home.

    “Others were rescued and rushed to the hospital but Moses could not be rescued. They searched for him for more than 30 minutes.”

    Brother of the victim who gave his name as Francis said they were the only two surviving siblings of their parents.

    His words, “I was shocked to receive the news of my brother. I never expect that he will die under a trap. I drove here after I heard about it. I will go and see him in the mortuary. How can they send somebody to work under a trap? We are only two surviving siblings and now I am the only person remaining now.”

  • Lagos collapsed building: Court slams N10m bail on contractor

    Lagos collapsed building: Court slams N10m bail on contractor

    An Ebute Meta Magistrates’ Court yesterday granted Richard Nyong, the Managing Director of LekkiGardens Homes to bail on self-recognition for the alleged collapsed five-storey building.

    Chief Magistrate Afolashade Botuku agreed with the submissions of counsels to the first and second suspects, Mr Femi Wangboje and Mr Olabode Olanipekun who both urged the court either admit their clients on bail in liberal terms, or make an order directing the suspects to be reporting to the police during work hours.

    Botoku admitted Taiwo Odofin, one of the collapsed building contractors to N10 million bail with two sureties in the like sum.

    Upholding Olanipekun’s submission, Botoku said: “The court has not been told by the prosecution how far the investigation has gone, and in his application for bail, counsel to the second defendant submitted that the applicant had never been convicted before of any offence.

    “He submitted that the applicant was an employer of labour with over 8,000 employees, was law-abiding and would not interfere with the investigation. These submissions were not controverted by the prosecution. I therefore find merit in the application.”

    She continued: “I hereby grant the first defendant bail in the sum of N10 million with two sureties in the like sum. The sureties must be of good behaviour and be taxpayers. The second defendant is granted bail on self recognition.

    “Both men shall make themselves available to FCID every day between the hours of 8am and 5pm. Neither man may also travel out of the country without the court’s permission. Pursuant to that, they shall submit their international passport to the court.”

    The police had urged the court to remand the two defendants pending when it would conclude its investigation on the incident.

    Nyong and Taiwo were arrested by the police for the collapse of the building in which no fewer than 35 people were killed.

    The suspects were arraigned in court on March 11, and were remanded following an application brought by police prosecutors, Godwin Osuyi and A. O. Fadipe.

    The case was adjourned till April 12.

  • History of collapsed building in Nigeria

     

    Collapse of buildings is a universal problem that  has  eaten  deeply  into  the  fabrics  of  the  construction  industry,  of  which  very  little  has  been  done  to  curb  the menace.

    Nigeria like  many  other  countries  is  witnessing  building  collapse  at  alarming  rate.  In  Abuja, the  Federal Capital Territory, Lagos, Lagos State, Port–Harcourt, Rivers State, Ibadan, Oyo State and Kaduna, Kaduna State to mention but few, many cases of collapsed buildings have been noted.

    Example of collapsed building abound, namely Multi-storey building, Mokola, Ibadan, Oyo  State  (1974),  Barnawa Housing  Estate,  Kaduna,  Kaduna  State  (1980),  Mosque  building,  Osogbo,  Osun  State

    (1986),  Uncompleted  Two-storey  building,  Isinkan,  Akure,  Ondo  State  (1998),  Two-storey  residential  building, Funbi Fagun street, Abeokuta, Ogun State (1998),  On-going construction of one-storey building, Benjamin Opara street, Port-Harcourt, River State (2006),  Nigeria

    Industrial Development Building (NIDB), Lagos (2006)  a two-storey  market  plaza  in  Oshodi,  Lagos  (2010), killing  at  least  four  persons  and  leaving  many  others wounded.

    Others are a  three-storey building at 15, Alli Street, collapsed at about  11.00 pm and fell on a bungalow at  number 13 of the same street, leading to its collapse in the same year.

    The cause of the collapse, then was not  immediately ascertained but it was suspected that the three-storey building may be distressed as hundreds of distressed buildings have been uncovered on Lagos Island.

    Chief among the terrifying incidents of building collapse in Nigeria is the July 2006 collapse in Surulere , Lagos state were  three buildings caved in causing pandemonium among residents  killing no fewer than 28 lives and left 50 others severely injured. Also in Lagos, about 37 people lost their lives in four-storey building misshape at Ebute Meta, same month in 2006.

    Another tragic collapse occurred in September 2014, where over 100 worshipers were killed in a six-storey building under construction collapsed in the premises of the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos state.

    Before now, in another account in 2011, the residents of Gimbiya Street, Area 11 Garki, Abuja, an uncompleted building collapsed killing five people including a pregnant woman, with over 40 squatters trapped in the house.

    It is also on record that no less than five worshippers died following the collapse of St. Anthony Catholic Church Cathedral in Oduma, Aninri Local Government Area of Enugu State. Several other building collapses took their queue from the overwhelming failure of the Saque Comprehensive Primary and Secondary School, Port Harcourt, River state, resulting in the death of over 50 pupils in June 1990.

  • SYNAGOGUE BUILDING COLLAPSE: ENGINEERS FOR TRIAL TOMORROW

    SYNAGOGUE BUILDING COLLAPSE: ENGINEERS FOR TRIAL TOMORROW

    The Lagos State government is to arraign in court tomorrow trustees of Synagogue Church and the building engineers contracted to supervise the church’s collapsed building.

    Senior Pastor of the church, TB Joshua, is one of the trustees.

    They will be arraigned at the Ikeja High court, according to the Deputy Director, Public Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Bola Akingbade.

    A coroner, Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe, had ruled that the Synagogue Church and its contractors were essentially negligent in the collapse of a building that killed 116 people on September 12, 2014.

    The coroner recommended to the State Government that the church be tried.

    However, the church trustees challenged the findings and recommendation of the coroner at the Federal High Court but the application was dismissed on Monday November 11, 2015 paving the way for the commencement of trial.

  • Synagogue toll rises to 115

    Synagogue toll rises to 115

    •Injured victims flown home

    South Africans raised yesterday their death toll in the September 12 guest house collapse at the Synagogue of All Nations (SCOAN)  in Ikotun on the outskirts of Lagos to 115, up from 67 that was initially announced.

    Twenty-five injured nationals receiving treatment in Lagos hospitals were yesterday flown back home. The C130plane carrying them landed at the Swartkop Air Force base in Pretoria at 10.42 am local time.

    Three children, including an 18-month-old and a two-year-old – both of who had lost their parents in the collapsed building – were among the injured flown in.

    It is believed that there were no fewer than 349 visiting South Africans in the church at the time of the collapse; 17 were declared unaccounted for. It is not clear if they are among the new list of the dead announced yesterday by  South African Government Minister Jeff Radebe.

    The minister urged Nigeria to investigate the “tragedy”.

    South Africans are angry at what they see as the Nigerian government dragging its feet on launching an investigation into the collapse, which occurred when three storeys were being added to the two-storey building, and for not reacting more quickly to help those trapped under the rubble.

    The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) gave the final death toll at 90; 131 survived.

    President Goodluck Jonathan visited the site on Saturday, offering his condolences to Church overseer Pastor T.B. Joshua, who has been the focus of South Africans’ anger after he described the victims as “martyrs of faith” on his Facebook page.

    Joshua and his supporters described the collapse as an “attack” somehow linked to a mysterious aircraft they claimed flew over the building before it collapsed.

    Radebe spent much of his news conference congratulating the work of South African emergency workers for the “biggest evacuation by the air force since the dawn of democracy”.

    He did not mention the efforts of Nigerian emergency services or the church but said Nigeria was carrying out an investigation, although Jonathan has not announced any probe.

    “We are keenly awaiting as a South African government the investigation that is being conducted by the Nigerian government so that we get to the bottom of the cause of … this national disaster,” Radebe said.

    South Africa’s media has been scathing of Joshua and the Nigerian government, especially after the Nigerian emergency services said the church had failed to cooperate and had blocked rescuers’ access to the site.

    “Blood on their hands” was the front page headline of South Africa’s Sunday Times. Many Nigerians have also been critical.

    There was heavy police presence at the Swartkop base when the plane carrying the injured arrived.

    Military personnel swiftly attended to them.

    Shortly after the C130 SA Air Force plane landed at the Swartkop Air Force Base in Pretoria, an initial batch of the patients was whisked off to the hospital.

    Most of the patients were brought out of the plane on stretchers and taken to ambulances parked nearby.

    A woman in a red dress, supported by two soldiers, limped to one of the ambulances.

    Others could also walk to the ambulances, with assistance.

    A convoy of Tshwane metro police officers on motorbikes and SA Police Service vehicles escorted the first two ambulances from the military base shortly after 11am.

    Members of a government inter-ministerial task force, led by Presidency Minister Jeff Radebe, approached the plane carrying the 26 injured South Africans after it landed.

  • ‘How I survived 28 hours in collapsed building’s rubble’

    ‘How I survived 28 hours in collapsed building’s rubble’

    Taiwo Temitope, a survivor of the collapsed Synagogue Church building, has recounted how he survived the incident that claimed 86 lives and left several others seriously wounded.

    The 28-year-old and graduate of Business Studies from the University of West London, said he was at the ground floor of the collapsed building when the incident occurred. But in spite of the magnitude of the incident, he came out with only an injury to one of his fingers.

    Recalling that he was rescued from the rubble 28 hours after the incident, Temitope said it was his faith that saved his life.

    He said: “I have always worked in the department that attends to foreigners in the church. I was at the canteen, which was on the ground floor, attending to the visitors because it was lunch time.

    “After announcing to the people that they had the option of eating semovita with egusi soup or fried rice and fish, I went to get some plastic cups for them.

    “ As I was placing the cup on a dispenser and talking to one of the visitors, I just heard a sound on the wall. The sound was like using a saw to cut through an object. I shouted Jesus! immediately the sound boomed. That was the last of day light that I saw until I was rescued.”

    Continuing, he said: “ I was not the only one trapped around the area at that moment. There were other people too around me. We were lying down because there was little head room there. The whole place was dark and air was not coming in. As someone who has been taught to pray, I started praying in my heart. I asked God to forgive me and began to plead the blood of Jesus.

    “The human senses ordinarily would tell you that you will not survive, but I had faith in God and that saved me.”

    Asked how he managed to come out of the rubble on Saturday when evacuation on the ground floor where he was trapped was just on Thursday, he said: “ That is best known to the rescue team. I am sure I was at a good position where my  rescue was made possible.

    “I came out at exactly 5: 05 pm on Saturday. I was taken to Unita Hospital at Governors Road after my rescue. I didn’t go for any trauma management but  I now appreciate life more.”

  • Time to stop the tragedy of building collapse

    Time to stop the tragedy of building collapse

    It was a tragedy of building collapse one too many on that balmy Friday, September 12, in the premises of the Synagogue Church, Ikotun, Lagos when the foundations of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) Guest House could no longer hold as it came down crashing like a pack of cards. 80 people lost their lives, 131 people survived albeit with varying degree of injuries, and miraculously, a 45-year-old woman walked out of the rubble alive after 4 days of the building failure. Some persons thought to be South African nationals are still declared missing. The total number of people present at the building before the structural failure was about 200, including foreign believers, local church members and canteen workers. It is a tragedy of monumental proportion when worshippers who had come to seek the face of God end up seeing the face of death. For Founder and General Overseer, Prophet T.B Joshua and his teeming church members of SCOAN across the globe, this was one tragedy that they didn’t foresee or foretell.

    The Synagogue guest house we learnt was originally designed from the foundation to hold a three storey building, but it ended up a sprawling 6 storey edifice! This is almost twice the load the foundation, steel rods and concrete structure was designed to carry. It is appalling that the Synagogue building had no approved plan in a state like Lagos. There is no evidence whatsoever that SCOAN secured regulatory approval for professional advice to increase the number of floors neither did they ask the appropriate questions, nor did the contractors adhere to strict standards, according to Lagos state Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development. Safety of the members who thronged the Synagogue for spiritual solace was relegated to the background. This failure gives an ample opportunity for government at all levels, particularly in Lagos state, to put an end to structural failures leading to collapse of buildings. The church authority must therefore be sued by the government for criminal negligence and flouting government’s building regulations to serve as deterrent to others and the contractor charged to court.

    Prophet T.B Joshua, labeled the collapse as a Boko Haram attack, claiming he was the target. That’s the way to go in Nigeria after an avoidable tragedy. Cases have been recorded where Lagos state residents were forewarned by relevant authorities to evacuate buildings with tell-tale signs of structural failures and danger of imminent collapse but chose instead to cover such building with the ‘blood of Jesus.’

    Lagos in particular, has recorded several building collapses more than any other city in Nigeria. In 2006 alone, up to 3 major building collapses were recorded. On March 22, the top nine stories of a 21-storey Nigerian Industrial Development Bank building collapsed. July 18, a four-storey block of apartments composed of 36 flats, collapsed. In November, an uncompleted three-storey building under construction collapsed. In these three structural failures, at least 28 persons were killed while over 86 others were pulled out of the rubble alive but sustained varying degree of injuries.

    It is also on record that a four-storey residential building under construction near Ojuelegba in Lagos collapsed leading to loss of lives of construction workers and those taking shelter from the rain. Remember the collapse of a multi-million naira building in Ajah Area. The collapse of a mosque in Mushin killing some Arabic Scholars. The collapse of a storey building in Kano accommodating some Islamic students, similar in scenario to the Oworonshoki building collapse a few days after which eight people were feared dead. There was the collapse of a storey building behind Federal Capital Territory Police Command in Abuja, reportedly killing 14 people working. The collapse of a 3-storey building awaiting finishing works at Ikeja behind Juli Pharmacy, where over 40 people were trapped in the building. The Abuja building collapse killing over 40 people. There was also the collapse of a Hotel in Akure, Ondo state. All these collapses happened in the last decade.

    The Synagogue building collapse has underscored the failure of relevant government agencies on one hand and greed on the part of contractors and building owners who use substandard materials for building or change building plans midway through construction – design for a residential (family) building can turn to a church overnight or the likelihood that bungalow, midway into construction, will turn to a storey building which often lead to structural deficiency like the case of Synagogue guest house. Unfortunately, there are still a number of buildings of similar circumstances dotting the skyline of many Nigerian cities.

    The time has come for us to desist from passing the buck or putting the blame squarely on poor-quality cement, fake iron rods, greed of foremen to maximize profit and utter disregard for building and construction laws with intentional neglect for the safety of the occupants of such building to putting in place punitive measures to ensure engineers or architects who supervise the erection of such substandard buildings are made to face the full wrath of the law. It is time government does more than revocation of Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) of the land –which is a rarity nowadays – where such substandard buildings are erected.

    Some remote factors of building collapse include; absence of soil test report, inability to carry out proper land survey, failure by foremen to understand and interpret building codes, lack of coordination between professional bodies like SON, COREN, CORBON, NIA, NSE etc and government and local town planning authority. Miserliness on the part of the owners (they shun professionals and use substandard materials to cut building costs), poor structural design, non-compliance with approved building design are some of the major reasons for building collapse in Nigeria. We can stop looking for supernatural causes of structural failures and look within. They are human factors. If not for the lack of will to enforce the appropriate building regulations and the need to unnecessarily “manage” building cost, the probability of sudden collapse of building is relatively low even in the event ofan earthquake or hurricane, according to geographers.

    Every building contractor should be duly registered for easy tracking and punishment should there be a reoccurrence. It is as tragic as the structural failure in itself that the issues of building collapses in Nigeria are hardly ever taken seriously by the government or the relevant law enforcement agents.

    Contrary to what many think, building collapses are not natural disasters except in cases of earthquake, hurricane or tornadoes. The incidents in Nigeria are man made and therefore avoidable.

     

    You can follow the writer on twitter, @tilevbare.

  • Three die in collapsed building

    Two sons and a housemaid of the Edo State Chairman of the Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria (YSFON), Osamudiamwen Osagiede died over the weekend in a collapsed building.

    They were at the building to repair a bicycle when the tragic incident occurred.

    The names of the boys were given as Junior and Martins aged 15 and seven respectively.

    Mr. Osagiede said the victims were his only sons.

    He told the Nation on phone that the incident occurred on Friday and was still traumatized.

    “It is a great pain to me. They are my only sons. They went there to repair bicycles when a section of the building collapsed on them.

    “They were killed instantly,”he said.

    He said the matter has been reported to the police.

  • Engineers, architects to be held for collapsed building

    Henceforth, engineers and architects must put their seal on their drawings and give a letter of indemnity on any building they are handling.

    This is part of the Lagos State new building regulations aimed at stopping the scourge of collapsed buildings in the state.

    With this step, professionals will be held be if the building collapses.

    This was one of the decisions taken at a town hall meeting in the Ikorodu division of the state.

    The meeting, which had in attendance officials from the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), chairmen of the Ikorodu local government and other Local Council Development Areas (LCDA), executives of various artisans groups, block makers, and Community Development Associations’ Executives, was aimed at ensuring a safer environment in the state.

    LASBCA General Manager, Dr. K. A. Animashaun-Odunayo, regretted the rate at which buildings were falling in the state, adding that this is of serious concern to the government. More saddening, she said, is that some of the incidents were caused by the use of sub-standard building materials, non-qualified artisans and “pseudo-professionals” in the industry.

    “This stakeholders meeting has become imperative in the sense that rainy season is around and we normally witness collapse of buildings during this period, hence, the need to sentisise our people on what to do and what not to do,” said the LABSCA chief said.

    She said it was mandatory for builders to involve the agency from the beginning of construction to the end to ensure that the specifications were followed, and ensure its quality, adding that every stage of construction must be certified.

    Also, it has become mandatory that registered artisans, such as plumbers, electricians, mason, and others involved in onstruction.

    Besides, the contractor handling such project must provide insurance, not only for the building, but also for the workers, who may sustain injury.