Published 6th Sep, 2022

By Opeyemi Lawal

On September 5, Dr Idris Salako resigned from his position as the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development.

The news of his resignation came barely 36 hours after a seven-storey building under construction collapsed in the state. This is the latest of the several building collapse cases in the state under one year.

In the resignation letter made available to the media and signed by Gbenga Omotoso, Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, the state government said Salako’s resignation was a prelude to the restructuring of the state’s ministries and agencies.

“The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, has accepted the resignation of the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako. This is a prelude to the restructuring of the Ministry and its agencies,” the state government stated.

“The Governor warns all players in the sector to respect the law or face the consequences of any indiscretion, no matter who the perpetrators are.”

Salako resigned from his position after three years in office. He was appointed on August 9, 2019. Here are some of the notable building collapse cases while he was commissioner.

21-STOREY IKOYI BUILDING

On November 1, 2021, a high-rise block of luxury flats under construction collapsed in Ikoyi, Lagos.

The collapse followed the construction of a 21-storey building with a 15-storey plan. The collapse of the Ikoyi building gained both national and international attention, as over 46 persons, including the owner of the building, died in the incident.

Authorities revealed that the collapse of the building was caused by the negligence of the agencies responsible for its approval and supervision.

Investigations into the collapse also revealed that most of the materials used were substandard.

7-STOREY ONIRU BUILDING

Another storeyed building in the metropolitan part of Lagos came to rubbles on September 4, 2022.

It was a seven-storey building under construction, and about six persons were trapped in it.

The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) stated that it had sent a series of warnings to the constructors of the building earlier, and that people could have vacated the premises.

The agency said it had sealed the seven-storey building on February 18, 2021, in a bid to avert the disaster.

Salako also stated that his office had visited the building while it was under construction but the hostile attitude of the contractor in charge of the building stopped them from carrying out their duty.

He also said the building was sealed three times before the collapse but the developer kept breaking it each time. More than five persons died in the incident.

BARIGA BUILDING

On August 21, 2022, a bungalow collapsed after a scaffolding tank fell on it in Bariga. The impact of the fall killed two children of the same parents.

The bungalow was a residential apartment with families in it, while the tank was from a two-storey building that had been reportedly sealed off by the Lagos State Government.

Despite the seal, there were still residents in the apartment up till the time of the collapse.

EBUTE-META

On May 1, 2022, an old three-storey building collapsed in Ebute-Meta.

The incident occurred around 9:48 pm, when most of the residents of the building had gone to bed.

There were eight confirmed casualties from the incident.

AGO-PALACE

A two-storey building collapsed in Ago-Palace on May 7, few days after the Ebute-Meta incident.

This time, there were no casualties, as there were reports that residents of the building had left the premises before the incident.

LASEMA stated that residents of the building left the premises because the building had given signs before it collapsed.

About 46 deaths were confirmed from the Ikoyi building, five from the Oniru building, two from the Bariga building and eight casaulties from Ebute-Meta.

In the last ten months, at least 61 Lagos residents have died in building collapse incidents.

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