The Lagos State Building Control Agency General Manager, Engr. Lekan Shodeinde, has said that there was no fresh building collapse in the state as being reported in the media.
Shodeinde spoke against the backdrop of a reported collapse at Egerton Street, Oke-Arin, Lagos Island.
Four people said to have been affected by the building that reportedly collapsed were said to be alive but in hospital.
But Shodeinde insisted in a statement that a three-floor structure was marked as distressed and was undergoing demolition as of the time.
He said the building in question was within a built-up area flanked by other adjoining structures at the rear, adding that the demolition of the distressed building became necessary in order to avert another disaster.
According to him, the Akinwunmi Ambode administration will leave no stone unturned to sanitise the building construction industry in the state by removing all the distressed, illegal structures and buildings prone to collapse as well as those not in conformity with the state building laws.
In the statement signed by Mrs Titi Ajirotutu of the agency’s Public Affairs Unit, the GM appealed to Lagosians to cooperate with the state government by moving out of all buildings marked as distressed and also staying away from demolition sites.
He however, re-emphasised the fact that only the Lagos State Building Control Agency had the responsibility and professional expertise to determine whether a building was distressed or prone to collapse.
He said that his Agency was passionately committed to pulling down all the distressed buildings in the state.
