30 out of the 80 distressed buildings have been demolished in Lagos Island - LASBCA

The Lagos State Building Control Agency has confirmed that it has pulled down 30 out of the 80 distressed buildings marked for demolition on Lagos Island.  

Olalekan Shodehinde, General Manager, LASBCA, said the demolition would come in phases because some of the buildings were subject of litigation. He said the demolished buildings were located at Elegbata Street, Apongbon; Tokunbo Street, by Glover; Inabiri Street, Egatin Street, Ojo Giwa and John Street, among others.    

Shodehinde said that the 80 buildings were marked for demolition following the collapse of a three-storey building on March 13 at Ita Faji area of Lagos Island in which 20 people were killed.

In his words, “the motive is to sanitize and rid Lagos of distressed and dilapidated buildings in a bid to stem the era of building collapse in the state. But presently, nothing is happening at the area and the demolition is suspended waiting for the report of the investigation committee”.

He said the agency was working to formalise the processes that would facilitate official collaboration with professional bodies and non-governmental organisations in the fight against building collapse.

“Before now, there exist some informal collaborations, but with the current formalisation process which is still at the proposal stage, the collaboration will become stronger and officially recognised too,” he said.