May 26, 2022

…Pulls Down Structures In Ikoyi, Ire-Akari, Marks Others for Demolition

In continuation of the demolition of distressed buildings, the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) has pulled down a two-floor building and three blocks of two-floor shops located at Ikoyi and Ire-Akari in the State.

The agency equally marked two other physically-distressed buildings in Ikoyi for demolition upon completion of necessary preliminary steps.

The General Manager of LASBCA, Arc. Gbolahan Oki, said the renewed demolition of distressed buildings embarked upon by the Agency started some weeks ago with several inhabitable buildings in different parts of the State like Ebute Metta, Lagos Island, Mushin and Okota among others.

Speaking on the recently removed buildings and others marked for demolition, Arc. Oki assured residents of the State that no distressed buildings would be spared regardless of their location or the personalities involved.

He debunked allegations that the activities of the agency are concentrated mainly on areas like Mushin, Ebute Metta, Surulere and others, revealing that the ongoing demolition exercise in Ikoyi and others already identified for demolition in an indication that the agency is not biased in carrying out its duties.

The General Manager maintained that the ongoing removal of distressed buildings would be sustained and extended to other LGAs and LCDAs, stressing that the exercise is a continuous one.

He said that the agency had already identified over 200 distressed buildings in different areas across the State with some already marked for demolition.

While appreciating the efforts of whistleblowers from different parts of the State, Arc. Oki pleaded with them to continue doing so without prejudice, hatred or selfishness towards anyone.

His words: “We have observed that although Lagosians are now responding to calls from the government to report structurally defective or illegal construction works within their localities, investigations, however, revealed that some of the calls and notifications have turned out to be baseless and untrue”.

“Our findings revealed that whenever there are controversies surrounding a particular property, the aggrieved party usually contacts the agency with reports that the property is defective and should be pulled down even when such buildings are structurally intact”, he added.

The General Manager pointed out that this is often misconstrued by some residents to mean that LASBCA is selective in its demolition exercise.