Tension as three-storey building collapses in Lagos

A three-storey building on Jebba Street at Cemetery in Ebute-Meta, Lagos, which had been marked for demolition by the state government, collapsed Sunday.

According to an eyewitness, Olalekan Fatai, the incident occurred at about 7pm. There was no casualty.

Fatai said the occupants vacated the building three years ago, noting that it and some other buildings on the same street and nearby streets had also been marked for demolition.

They include No. 15a Jebba Street, already demolished. No. 6 Church Street, No. 84 Ondo Street, and No. 18 Kano Street.

“The building collapsed at about 7pm. People were living there before, but its owner sent them out like three years ago.

“Apart from this building that just collapsed, there are other buildings too that were mapped out as distressed buildings around here, last year, by the state government. Some of these buildings marked are already demolished, while some are not,” Fatai noted.

Another resident of the same street, simply identified as Mr. Abdul, blamed the government for not demolishing the building on time, as the delay could have resulted in death.

He said: “What if this building fell on someone or a nearby building while collapsing? Probably by now, we might be recording casualties.

“Government should be strict with demolishing all these distressed buildings. Once they notice a building is in a bad state, such a building should be demolished immediately to avoid recording death.” Nation