Banana Island: Lagos begins removal of illegal structures

Officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) and the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Unit (Task Force) have commenced the demolition of buildings on Banana Island that are in contravention of the Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning Development Law (2019).

The exercise is in compliance with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s directive last weekend when he visited the site of the seven-storey building that collapsed on Banana Island.

Governor Sanwo-Olu said the site of the collapsed building was not originally part of the Island’s plan.

The demolition team was led by the General Manager of LASBCA, Arc. Gbolahan Oki, and the Task Force Chairman, CSP Shola Jejeloye.

In 2023 alone, cases of building collapse with loss of lives had become an embarrassment to the government of Lagos State.

A seven-storey building on First Avenue, Banana Island in Ikoyi, Lagos State was the first case of  collapsed building in 2023.

Eyewitnesses identified the building as Joe Faraday’s site which is under construction.

Information gathered that concreting was ongoing on one of the floors when the structure caved in.

This took place barely two years after the collapse of a 21-storey high-rise nearby Gerard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos State.