THE Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) has demolished seven buildings in the Mushin area of Lagos State.
A statement published on the site of the state government said the demolition was carried out to avoid an imminent collapse of the buildings that would have claimed many innocent lives.
The seven distressed buildings were located at Abiodun Wright Street, Itire Road and Gbadamosi Iginla Street in Mushin, the statement, dated May 27, 2022, explained.
The state quoted the General Manager of LASBCA, Gbolahan Oki, as saying there was a high level of disregard for vacation notices issued by the agency on different occasions to occupants of the buildings, and to others in different parts of the state.
Oki said, “The administration of Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu frowns at the avoidable loss of lives and property of residents of the state. It is time for Lagosians to take their safety seriously and avoid putting blame on government at all times.”
The Director and Head of Inspectorate, Quality Control and Post-Construction Audit, Engineer Khadijah Olayemi Aremo-Ajibade, who spoke on behalf of Oki, stated that the seven buildings pulled down by the agency had been served necessary notices, but the occupants and owners of the structures did not comply.
While noting that over 10 distressed buildings had been demolished since the commencement of the exercise earlier in the year, the General Manager informed that the exercise was aimed at averting further loss of lives, warning that all distressed buildings in any part of the state were disasters waiting to happen.
Oki assured Lagosians that the agency would relentlessly continue to pursue its vision and goal of ensuring that all buildings across the state were fit for habitation and constitute no risk to other nearby structures.
Lagos State has been recording a spate of building collapse, with the latest being the one that occurred on May 21, 2022, at 4, Alayaki Lane, Freeman, Lagos Island, after a heavy downpour.
Four people died in the incident.
Before that, a three-storey building had collapsed in Ebute Meta on May 1, 2022, leaving 10 people dead.
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