The Lagos State Government on Monday urged occupants of marked distressed buildings across the state to immediately vacate them pending the arrival of the demolition team of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA).

The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr Rotimi Ogunleye, made the appeal just as a distressed three-storey building located on 50, Kakawa St., Campos, Lagos Island, collapsed on Monday without any casualty.

Ogunleye, in a statement, also said relief and resettlement centres had been opened to accommodate those affected.

He said the building in question had been identified as distressed by the officers of the LASBCA and all the necessary statutory notices had been duly served.

According to Ogunleye, the building is one of the defective structures marked for removal by the agency.

“Fortunately, occupants had been evacuated before the incident occurred. Immediately, the state rescue team and LASBCA were alerted and they moved to site promptly to check all adjoining buildings so as to evacuate the occupants to avoid any further hazards.”

He said already, 25 buildings had been removed by LASBCA, as the government had stepped up measures to rid the state of distressed buildings so as to prevent loss of lives and property due to sudden collapse.

The Kakawa Street incident came barely two weeks after a three-storey building on Massey Street, in Ita-Faaji, Lagos Island, collapsed on March 13, leaving some 20 persons, including some school children, dead and many others injured. (NAN)