Meiran building collapsed due to overload, substandard materials, says government

The Lagos State Government on Sunday attributed the building collapse, which occurred at No. 7, Saidu Okeleji Street, Meiran in Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) on Saturday to heavy loads placed on the building and substandard materials used for the construction work.

Reacting to the collapse, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Wasiu Anifowoshe, commiserated with the families of those that lost their loved ones to the unfortunate incident, but appealed to property owners and developers to henceforth adhere strictly to Planning and Building laws and regulations to forestall re-occurrence of incidents of building collapse in the state.

In a statement, he said the call became imperative in view of the need for property owners and developers to be mindful of the fact that people will reside in these structures and their lives are valuable.

According to the commissioner, the government is deeply concerned about the attitude of some developers not building in accordance with the relevant building rules and is therefore appealing to all owners and developers to build right for the safety of lives of Lagosians.

Anifowoshe said: “Investigation revealed that the old building had building materials stacked on the decking and due to the heavy downpour, the decking caved in on a woman and her baby who were unfortunate to be beneath the decked shop at the time of collapse. Sadly, they lost their lives.

“The site of the collapse has a completed bungalow and a shop extension in front which had a decking stacked with loads of building materials. The shop occupied a small portion of land of about three metres. Both developments in question had no planning permit and substandard materials were used for construction. It had been identified by the Building Control Officers in that area and served the statutory stop work notices and monitored for compliance,” he said.

The commissioner also disclosed that others who were trapped in the collapsed building have been rescued and given immediate medical attention by the Lagos State Emergency and Rescue Team.