Expand Investigations on Collapsed 21-storey to neighborhoods
Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has urged the Lagos State Government to extend its investigation into the cause of the 21-storey building collapse in Ikoyi, to neighbouring buildings due to vibrations that may have occurred during the incident.
The President of COREN, Engr. Ali Alimasuya Rabiu, made the call in Abuja, Wednesday, even as he blamed the possible cause of building collapses on not using experienced and certified professionals by Nigerians to execute high profile jobs .
Rabiu also suggested that the rising cost of building materials including cement and iron rods has not helped in large measures towards guaranteeing quality assurance in housing constructions as most persons would always want to cut corners by going for low cheaper products in the market to maximize profits.
Commiserating with families of the victims of the 21-storey building which collapsed on Monday at Gerald Road, the COREN President described the incident as “unfortunate but avoidable.”
“As professionals in the build industry, I must say that we are very worried that such a massive failure will occur in Lagos. At COREN we are surprised that Lagos which we have taken over the years as a center of excellence has experienced this unfortunate incidence. We have always believed that professionals particularly the engineers can survive without government patronage because of the massive infrastructural development going on in Lagos by private concerns, it is a thing of worry to us.”
On the recurring incidents of building collapse over the years across the country despite threats of sanctions by regulatory bodies in the industry to sanction defaulters, Rabiu stated that the propensity of Nigerians to always disobey rules and regulations has not helped matters.
“And they tend to flout the fact that they have connections in high places and beyond,’ he added, noting that “constant patronage of low quality materials, also contribute to collapses.”
Coren aligned with the Lagos state government’s decision to suspend the General Manager of the state’s building control agency,Mr. Gbolahan Oki, describing it as a step in the right direction.
The COREN boss said that since the agency is responsible for regulating building and construction generally in Lagos, suspending the GM was a right step taken by the government as it will allow for a free investigation to be carried out.
Although he stated that until completion of a thorough investigation, COREN as a regulator of engineering practice in Nigeria, will not be hasty in making pronouncements regarding the actual cause of the 21-storey building collapse as anything short of that would tantamount to mare speculation.
Rabiu also said that the council has no reason to dispute that approval was given by the authority for the construction of the 21- storey, going by rumors that what initial approval was for 15 storey edifice.
“The Deputy Governor of Lagos State has confirmed that the approval was for 21-storey and we have no reason not to agree.
I believe however that appropriate professionals were not used to carry out jobs, we should always engage trained professionals, we have heard stories surrounding this 21 storey building collapse but I don’t want to go into that because they are still in the realm of speculations.”
The building, located on Gerald Road in the affluent Ikoyi neighbourhood,is a construction site for luxury apartments. It is unclear how many were inside when it fell, but people were feared trapped.
Search rescue operations from multiple agencies has continued since the tragedy.
This (Wednesday)Morning, the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, and Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, have confirmed that the death toll is now 22.
The Agency said two bodies were recovered at about 2:28am today.
