.occupants broke our seal, says state government
.NEMA chased out of site
Five people, including a 13-year old girl on Sunday died in Lagos following the collapse of a two-storey building.
The building located at 30/32 Ishaga Road, Ikate, Surulere, was said to have collapsed around 10am while it was raining.
Eyewitnesses told The Nation that no fewer than 10 people sustained various degrees of injuries, with about four rushed to the hospital for emergency or surgical attention.
It was learnt that the victims of the mishap included passersby who stopped at the uncompleted building for shelter from the rain.
Among them, The Nation learnt was the teenager, who was said to be a bread seller and a tailor, whose machine was brought out but his body not yet seen.
Although eyewitnesses believed some people were still trapped under the collapsed building, Lagos State Government officials had a different view.
One Prince Tony Anslem, a Rotarian, said he was in church when they heard the building collapsed. He insisted that some people may still be trapped in the debris, noting that while they were trying to rescue the victims, they heard cries of helpless people saying “we are still here o! We are still here o!
He said: “Although I am not wearing a wristwatch, this building collapsed in the morning when it was raining. We were in church, when we heard the sound. Because my church is not far from here, we quickly rushed down and were the first to start evacuating the victims before the emergency response agencies were contacted.
“As a Rotary member and a volunteer for things like this, I moved in here and saw what was happening. Immediately, we mobilized the youths in the area and the moved into action. We were able to act swiftly because the dredging company working around here employed the youths.
“So, we told them to drive their truck and other equipment. They were initially afraid that their boss would not be happy but when they realized it was an emergency, they co-operated with us. So, we were evacuating the victims before National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, got here immediately after. Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, got here early too.
“Before the emergency agencies got here, the youths in the area have rescued five people alive. At that time, it was only half of the house that was down. I was telling the people there to rush out because the other half will certainly fall.
“They refused to listen to me and even called me a wizard for saying that. They said instead of helping them bring out their things, I am telling them the other half will collapse as well. A lot of people got injured. I cannot quantify the number but I saw more than 10 people.
“You know it was raining and people ran under the shed. I still believe there are people trapped under the debris. The issue now is that the bread seller we were expecting to meet was a lady carrying a baby but the one we eventually met dead, was the teenage girl with no baby.
“So, it means either that bread seller with the baby is still under there or the baby is trapped there. Secondly, while we were standing here, one of the rescued victims told us that someone gave them a call that they were still trapped in there.
“When we moved in, we were hearing their voice “we are still here o! We are still here o! But as we moved half way towards them, we did not hear the voice again and that was when two people were rushed out dead and we did not get to where those people are.
“So far, five corpses have been removed. Lagos State Government has taken four corpses, while mallams took their own immediately. People are under here, even a tailor, obioma, they brought his things out but where is he?”
Confirming the incident , both NEMA’s information officer, Ibrahim Farinloye and LASEMA’s General Manager, Osayintolu said five corpses have been recovered.
Farinloye told The Nation that one of the injured victims was rushed to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, for surgery, while two others were taken to emergency wards.
Osayintolu said: “it occurred around 10am and immediately we activated our emergency team. We have build our local networks so much that members of our local emergency management committee were on ground and acted swiftly in response of the crisis.
“We were able to safe five people. Two have been discharged while three are being treated in our emergency care unit. One is undergoing operation at the General Hospital but it is sympathetic to note that we recovered five bodies.
“However, the operation was swift, prompt efficient and effective.”
Meanwhile, The Nation met NEMA officials at about 3:30pm leaving the site of the mishap and they alleged they were chased out by the State Commissioner for Special Duties, Wale Ahmed.
NEMA alleged that state officials were angry that Farinloye was granting media interview, hence, they were molested out of the site since it was a state government affair.
However, Ahmed denied chasing NEMA out of the site and told The Nation he was not aware if anyone molested them.
He said: “I did not chase them out and I am not even aware if anyone did.
“But to put the facts straight, NEMA is a secondary responder. In any state where you have state emergency management committee, it is that committee that is primary responder. It is the state that will call NEMA if we need their assistance or if the situation is beyond our control.”
On whether building collapse has become a norm in the state, Ahmed disagreed and said that for every one building that collapses, several others that would have caused hazards have been demolished.
“It is not a norm. For every single building that collapses, there are so many that we have been able to avert by either testing or doing a controlled demolition. Sometimes we go to the extent of evacuating the occupants.
“We have prevented so many buildings from collapsing. Of course, you will not get to hear of those ones that we have saved or prevented, it is only the unfortunate ones you will know about.
“This particular building is under construction. We were called that the building has collapsed and we came here. Honestly, at the moment, I cannot tell you what let to its collapse. We will get more facts on paper works and official document for you later because at the moment, we are trying to see how many more people we can save. We have been able to safe five people who are in good condition. “
Also Speaking, General Manager, Lagos State Building Control Agency, LASBCA, Dr. Abimbola Animashaun-Odunayo, said the collapsed building was sealed about three weeks ago. She decried the rate at which occupants of such buildings violate the state’s regulation.
She said: “We have sealed this structure about three weeks ago. It was discovered during one of our routine road shows and we sealed about four buildings around this environment. Whenever we seal buildings, we expect the owners to come with their various document but this particular building never turned up.
“This construction started even before the establishment of our agency and they were not certified. We told them they have to stop work. We do monitor but unfortunately, they decided to work on a Sunday when our offices are closed. That is why this building collapsed.
“For this to have happened, it means they broke our seal. The building is substandard and there was no approval.”
