Building Collapse: Lagos Seals off Houses in Ikeja

Building Collapse: Lagos Seals off Houses in Ikeja

Segun James

Following the rampant collapse of buildings, Lagos State Government over the weekend began the sealing of suspected substandard buildings in the state.

Officials of Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) on Saturday sealed off several buildings in Ikeja area for breaching the building control laws of the state.

Some other structures suspected to have changed the residential approval granted to them and converted for commercial use were also served notices to present their documents within 48 hours for regularisation.

LASBCA General Manager, Ms. Abiola Kosegbe, who led the enforcement team to parts of Ikeja, said structures found to have violated the building control laws were sealed and the owners must show why they changed the original approved structure without approval.

On Oduduwa Way, three massive structures on No. 67 were sealed for not having a building permit. Also, a two-storey building on No. 30 was shut with the workers on-site driven out for not having a building permit.

Four other structures on the same road were served notices for the suspected conversion of residential approval granted to commercial purpose.

On No. 28 Sobo Arobiodu, massive structures being developed were also sealed with the owner asked to produce approved building documents. Structures were also shut at Opebi area of Ikeja.

Kosegbe lamented that developers had been flouting the laws of the state with impunity and vowed that the government would enforce the law in order to mitigate the incidence of collapsed buildings in the state.

She said the government had decided to monitor building development across the state even on weekends and public holidays as it had come to the notice of the government that illegal developments were done on such days.

Kosegbe said the building on No. 67 Oduduwa Way had been served stop work notice on several occasions, but that the developer kept working, which informed the sealing of the structures in the compound.

“Government has zero-tolerance to collapse buildings. People must build right. Whenever we come on-site for inspection, we ask for building permits, drawing, notice board and professionals on-site,” she said.

The general manager added that any construction without a project board constituted an offence, saying even after a developer had gotten a building permit, he or she must notify LASBCA of a plan to move to the site for proper monitoring.

Kosegbe appealed to Lagosians to ensure that they obtain the necessary permits before going to a site and that they must make use of professionals to erect their structures.

In recent time, there had been a series of collapsed buildings across the state due to illegal development and using of substandard materials by develop

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