Lagos collapsed building: Experts blame old age, salinity - As death toll rises

Dachi Maduako and Adewale Ajayi, Lagos - 30.06.2009

VICTIMS of the collapsed building at the Iddo terminal compound of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Lagos, who escaped death, have said that the two-storey building, where they had lived for over one year, was struck by lightning that accompanied the early morning rains of Sunday, but the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), said it was evident that other causes such as salinity, old age and poor materials, led to the structural failure.

These were disclosed, just as the victims claimed that close to 18 people died in the incident that occurred around 3.00 a.m. on Sunday. But the claim was countered by the Tracing Officer of the Nigerian Red Cross Society, Mr. Adomeh Emmanuel, who said eight people, including a baby, were brought out dead while 46 were evacuated and taken to the General Hospital out of which 35 were treated. The dead were deposited at the mortuary.

Speaking at the site, the NIOB Chairman for Lagos State, Mr. Kunle Awobodu, said there was the presence of salt on the concrete work which had left it brittled while the iron rods had all rusted. These, according to him, were the evidence of salinity that had remained a problem in the area due to its closeness to the lagoon. Salt, he said, corrodes materials.

He said the problem of building collapse had remained a challenge for the builders and Lagos State government and that this particular collapse was a reminder to both the institute and the government to face the challenge.

He disclosed that due to the incessant building collapse in the state, people from all over the world researching into building collapse, now come to Lagos to collect data, adding that bureaucratic bottleneck had been hindering the implementation of the recommendations made by the technical committee set up by the state government to look into the problems.

He stated that the committee had already discovered the panacea for the problems, which, he said, were awaiting implementation. He regretted that each time professionals gathered to proffer solutions to the problems of building collapse, many more substandard buildings were going up in other parts of Lagos. He, therefore, called on government to send more professionals out to monitor construction sites in the state.

The NIOB chairman confirmed that auditing of structures to determine their present status had been done but that what was being awaited was the actual demolition of those identified as being sub- standard. “Some of these buildings show structural defects. The only thing left is for their demolition,” he said.

He appealed to the governor to personally supervise the implementation of the technical committee’s recommendations, so that it would not appear he was only concerned whenever a building collapsed.

Also calling for help, the victims, who claimed that they were not allowed to get to the site to see if they could retrieve some of their property, noted that they had not received any assistance from the government. “We have not been allowed to get back to the site since building collapsed. We lost everything. I have only the pair of shorts I am wearing since I was rescued at 9.00 a.m. I treated myself and it was God who saved me and not any man,” said Nuru Aliyu who hails from Kano State.

Also giving an account of the gory experience her family of five went through to be alive, Mrs. Patricia Odo, who is married to Mr. Odo Jimoh, an Ebira from Kogi State, said that when lightning struck and the building caved in on them, her husband was the first to be rescued before the rest of them were rescued.Nigerian Tribune discovered that the tenants rented and paid N50,000 per annum through a caretaker who could not be traced at the time of filing the report. It was also learnt that the Nigerian Railway Corporation might have leased the building which was initially built as a warehouse over 40 years ago before reconstructing it for both warehouses and residential purposes.

Meanwhile, men of the Operations Department of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) have continued to comb the site of the two-storey building.

Excavators, pay-loaders, tippers and other earth-moving equipment have continued to turn the rubble for possible survivors. Speaking on the rescue operation, the General Manager/CEO of the agency, Dr. O.D Oke-Osanyitolu, noted that his men primarily targeted rescuing trapped residents alive.

He noted further that, while all the injured persons had been taken to hospitals for treatment, the few corpses from the incident had been deposited at the mortuary.

According to him, “the operations personnel of LASEMA with their equipment have been working here non-stop alongside other stakeholders since the building collapsed. We have combed everywhere and are still combing, to ensure that no survivor is still being trapped in the rubble.”

Dr. Oke-Osanyitolu called for public vigilance at all times to reduce the incidence of disasters in the state. Meanwhile, the state House of Assembly has called on the state Ministry of Environment to investigate cases of buildings converted from their original purpose to another purpose.

Moving a motion under matter of urgent public importance, Honourable Ademoye Adekunle (Lagos Mainland 1) said the building that collapsed in Iddo was designed and used as wharehouse by the Nigerian Railway Cooperation, until of late when it was converted into residential apartment.

Adekunle said the building might have collapsed because it had out-lived its lifespan. He explained that the matter needed to be investigated because there were such cases of buildings that were converted from their initial purposes to another without getting the necessary approval for them.