Odofin Taiwo the contractor in charge of Lekki Collapsed Building Arrested as Death Toll rise to Thirty as at 4pm 9th March 2016
Lagos State Emergency Management Agency has announced that the death toll at Lekki has risen to Thirty
(LASEMA)
The Lagos State Government has expressed its
condolences over the death of construction site
workers who lost their lives on Tuesday as a result
of the collapse of a five-storey building under
construction on Kushenla Road, Ikate Elegushi,
Lekki.
In a press release issued on Wednesday and signed
by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy,
Mr. Steve Ayorinde, the Lagos State Government
also announced that based on preliminary reports
and investigation, it was discovered that the
collapsed building was served contravention notice
for exceeding the approved floors and thereafter
sealed by the Lagos State Building Control Agency.
It added that it has also been discovered that in a
brazen act of defiance and impunity, the owners of
the building, Messrs Lekki Worldwide Estate Limited,
the promoters of Lekki Gardens, criminally unsealed
the property and continued building beyond the
approved floors until the unfortunate incident
of Tuesday which has led to loss of lives.
The statement added that arising from the Lagos
State Executive Council meeting decision on
Wednesday, the State Government will no longer
tolerate the action of unscrupulous owners and
builders who challenge its supervisory control
thereby endangering the lives of Lagosians.
The State Government has consequently directed the
suspension of work at the site and ordered the
Lagos State Police Command to cordon it off as it is
now a crime scene.
The government also directed further integrity tests
be carried out on every other construction project
which has or is currently being handled by Messrs
Lekki Worldwide Estate Limited in the interest of
public safety.
Furthermore, the release quoted the Lagos State
Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode as saying that all
directors of Lekki Worldwide Estate Limited are
strongly advised to submit themselves to the Lagos
State Commissioner of Police within the next twenty
four hours in their own interest or face immediate
arrest.
The statement also commended the timely response
and remarkable intervention by the combined men of
the Lagos State Emergency Authority (LASEMA), the
Lagos State Fire Service, Lagos State Ambulance
Service (LASAMBUS), Red Cross, National
Emergency Agency (NEMA), Lagos State Building
Control Agency and the Rapid Response Squad
(RRS).
The Lagos State Government also warned that it will
no longer be business as usual stating that any
developer either on existing or new building projects
who fails to comply with building and construction
regulations or attempts to subvert the law will
henceforth face criminal prosecution.
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