The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) on Tuesday demolished a distressed two-storey building located at Olaosun close, by Abati Barracks, off Western Avenue, Lagos, after failing integrity test.
The Director General of LASEMA, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said the defective building was pulled down after due diligence and outcome of several tests.
He said that LASEMA Response Team in collaboration with officials from the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) carried out the total demolition of the defective structure.
Oke-Osanyintolu said that the agencies also got approval of the state Commissioner for Physical Planning, Dr Idris Salako, to conduct the demolition.
He said that tenants were evacuated from the premises on Tuesday morning from the premises to save their lives.
According to him, aside the results of exhaustive tests, the building had shown visible cracks, distress signs and several other defects which led to the distress calls.Oke-Osanyintolu said that the demolition took place to stop constituting threats to lives of occupants and surrounding property.
He, however, urged members of the public to take necessary corrective action to safeguard their property and save lives.
In a similar development, LASEMA on Monday confirmed the partial collapse of a three-storey building situated at No.6 Olonode Str., Ebute Metta in Lagos.
After evacuating all the residents, preliminary report on the collapsed building showed that it had been “severely distressed with the reinforcement’’.
He said that the building having corroded had visible cracks on the walls and pillars due to lack of maintenance.
Oke-Osanyintolu further revealed that all the slabs of the building were weak, making part of it to collapse at about 9 a.m. on Monday.
He said that there was neither loss of life nor injury.
Oke-Osanyintolu said that LASEMA experts and LAGOS State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), officials were at the scene of the incident.
According to him, all the occupants have been evacuated from the premises, while the entire building has been cordoned off to prevent any secondary incident. (NAN)
