As a result of the continued collapse of buildings on Lagos Island, Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning, Mr Oluwatoyin Ayinde, told Nigerian Tribune on Sunday that his ministry had sealed off 80 buildings under probe and after investigation, concluded that the affected building should be demolished.
The commissioner revealed at the site of another collapsed building, at No 1, Oshagbemi Street, on Lagos Island.
The three-storey building which collapsed on Sunday at about 5.00 p.m. was already marked for demolition before it eventually collapsed on its own. The eviction of tenants of the building since two months ago saved lives, as only three persons were rescued from the scene of the collapsed building, with one of them, a welder who went under the building to rest, sustaining a minor fracture on his leg. He is currently responding to treatment at Mercy General Hospital Lagos Island.
According to the Director of Lagos State Physical Planning and Development Authority (LASPPDA), Mr Rufai Adekunle, the ministry is not taking over the sealed properties from the developers but helping them to check their buildings before they collapsed and if that is the case, that means that the sites will then become the properties of the state and will be used to erect public oriented facilities like clinics and schools to be used by the public.