…As Govt begins 90-day demolition of remaining skyscrapers
By Moses Adeniyi
The land on which the 21-storey building structure, that collapsed in Ikoyi was premised, would be taken over by the Lagos State Government (LASG), Nigerian NewsDirect has gathered.
This is just as it was also gathered that the State Government has handed over the remaining skyscrapers built on the land to a contractor for demolition within 90 days.
At a press conference held in Lagos on the handing over of the complex to the contractor engaged by the government to demolish the structures, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Lagos State, Dr Idris Salako, disclosed the State Government is taking over the land in line with the State’s physical planning law which stipulates that owners of collapsed buildings would forfeit the land to the state.
It would be recalled that the 21-storey building belonging to Fourscore Heights Limited which was located on Gerrard Road in Ikoyi collapsed on November 1, 2021, killing no fewer than 44 people, including the firm’s Managing Director, Femi Osibona; his friend, a United States of America-based Nigerian businessman, Wale Bob-Oseni; his personal assistant, Oyinye Enekwe, and clients.
According to Salako, while the State Government has not taken a decision on what it would use the land for, it is likely to be used for something that will help to remember those who died in the building mishap.
Salako stated that the demolition would be done having the interest of the public including the residents at heart.
Commenting on the development, the State’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, said pulling the rest of the structures down was non negotiable, following one of the recommendations of the panel set-up by the government, which prescribed the buildings be demolished because they failed integrity tests.
Omotoso assured that any action taken on the project would be in the interest of the public, disclosing that a stakeholders’ meeting had previously been held to interact with residents and stakeholders in the building industry.
Also commenting, the Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Tayo Bamgbose-Martins, said that the State Government has no business with those who have paid to own apartments in the building that collapsed, saying the state government would not consider compensating them.
In his remarks, the Managing Director of Edge of Designs, Theophilus Lewo, engaged to carry out the task, said the deconstruction would take about 90 days, but might be extended due to weather, rain and the safety of the workers.
He said his company would not be demolishing the building, but deconstructing it using a controlled method by cutting it in pieces till it gets to ground level.