Residents of Akinwunmi Street, Mende, Maryland, Lagos, have debunked the report that a building in the area sank with nine ladies following a heavy rain on Monday morning.

FIJ visited the alleged scene of the collapse after Oluwafemi Oke-Osanyitolu, Director General of the Lagos State Government Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), confirmed the incident.

The landlord of the storeyed building, who simply identified himself as Daniel, described the news as false and misleading. He told FIJ that the house has remained exactly how it was since 2008 when he moved in.

“Today’s rain was only excessive, and it is said to have been caused by the ongoing Maryland-Opebi link bridge construction, which resulted into a flood.

“In all 14 years of staying here, this has never happened before. The usual thing that happens is that the street gets flooded and then the water shrinks with time.”

Daniel also said that LASEMA or the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) rescued no one in the house.

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“There was no rescue by NEMA or LASEMA, neither did any building sink. All they did was escort the residents that were walking through the water out of the building.

“One of the residents, who is new in the neighbourhood, called NEMA. The person was not familiar with the flooding that is common to this part of the state.

“Not one person was injured or died. There were no casualties. Things were only blown out of proportion.”

Another resident of the estate, who asked not to be named, said the panic cry was made by a neighbour simply identified as Blessing.

He said occupants had vacated the ground floor of the building and everyone now stayed only on the upper floor.

“Blessing, one occupant of the building who was not familiar with the flood and work in Ilupeju, called her office to say she wouldn’t be able to go show up for work. Then she took a picture and sent it to her office.

“The picture elicited a lot of emotions from the office, from where it was forwarded to NEMA who then came with a rescue team around 10 am.

“They came for rescue operations but no building collapsed or sank because the structure of the building has been slanted since it was built.

“The rescue was just to help people out of the building via a ladder including Mr. Daniel, the landlord because the ground floor was flooded.”

Andy Eke, a developer, condemned the state of the building, citing poor pipping from the foundation.

“Although the rain is phenomenal, I have known the building for more than 10 years. This is because I worked in developing most of the houses in the estate.

“The lack of proper drainage and a nearby canal are contributory factors. The building has low water level and continuously staying in the building is high risk.”