A Four-Storey Grave!
Scores of people are trapped in the rubble of a four-storey building which collapsed in the Ebute-Metta area of Lagos last week, the fifth in the state since the beginning of the year
By Chidiebere Onyemaizu

Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Until last week, House number 70 on Ibadan Street, Ebute-Metta, Lagos stood manginficiently out among other buildings in the street, being an imposing four-storey structure. Besides, the building contained a whopping 52 mini-flats, housing hundreds of people. However by Tuesday, July 18, 2006 debris made up of mangled iron rods and sheets littered the site where the imposing building once stood, having caved in and collapsed, trapping hundreds of occupants.
The collapsed building was, instructively, the fifth to crumble within the Lagos metropolis since the beginning of the year. Like the others before it, the tragic incident at Ebute-Metta left on its trail, death and anguish. At the close of work on Thursday, July 20, 2006, about 20 persons have been confirm dead with scores of others sustaining different degrees of injuries.
The number of people rescued from the collapsed building so far stood at 50, while about 50 others were reportedly still trapped in the debris.
Survivors who were rescued from the collapsed building have been reeling heart-rending tales of their miraculous survival. One Tawa, a mother of twin babies who together with her babies was trapped in the collapsed building endured pains and indignities under the rubble for almost 19 hours before making frantic telephone calls to her husband, describing the location where she was trapped. Instructively, rescue workers, largely made up of Lagos State Ambulance Services, the Red Cross, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Stabilini Visiononi and Lagos State Fire Service, followed the lead provided to trace and rescue Tawa and her babies. Unfortunately, however, before help could come her way, one of her twin babies, Taiwo, had died.
But while the survivors are thanking their stars, those whose loved ones are still trapped in the rubble are distraught. When The Source visited the scene of the collapsed building in the early hours of last Thursday, July 20, many whose relations were still holed up in the ruins of the collapsed building were seen enveloped in stoic calm. Many of them, amid tears, pleaded with the Lagos State Government to ensure that many of the victims who were still alive are urgently rescued. A relation of one Chukwudi Ugandu, one of the occupants trapped in the collapsed building wept and rolled on the ground as nothing so far has been heard about the victim.
The Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, on a visit to the scene of the incident decried rampant cases of collapsed buildings in the state. The Governor vowed to confiscate all other structures by the developer of the collapsed building, with noticeable structural defects. The Governor assured sympathisers that the state government would get to the roots of the matter and directed that more rescue equipment and personnel be deployed to the scene.
The Source’s investigations revealed that the collapsed building used to be a bungalow housing not more than 22 tenants. However, a developer later negotiated with the landlord and entered into a 10-year lease agreement. Consequently, the developer demolished the bungalow and in its stead erected a four-storey building of 52 mini-flats, with multiple shops on the ground floor.
The Source further learnt that it took the developer only six months to erect the collapsed four-storey building. Apart from the collapsed structure, The Source gathered that the developer also manages two other buildings not too far from the site of the collapsed one.
The Ebute-Metta incident has brought to five, the number of buildings that have in the last seven months collapsed in the Lagos metropolis. In January, a building collapsed in Amukoko area of the metropolis, killing seven occupants. This was followed on March 22 with the collapse of the 24-storey building of the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank (NIDB) in Lagos island. Some workers were trapped in the collapsed building which is yet to be pulled down.
In April, a pillar at a building site collapsed, crushing one of the construction workers. Early this month, a building in Orile-Iganmu area of the state also caved in, killing two persons in the process.
Concerned residents of the metropolis have been situating the reasons for rampant incidence of collapsed buildings in the state. Many of them attribute the tragic occurrences to greedy landlords and developers who in a hurry to erect the buildings so as to exploit prospective accommodation seekers, deliberately employ unqualified builders as well as use sub-standard building materials.
Others, however, identified the terrain of some areas in the state as the bane of durable structures. According to them, flood-prone areas are likely to witness more incidences of collapsed structures.
The Special Adviser to Governor Tinubu on Property and Infrastructure, Adesegun Oniru seems to be in agreement. Speaking at the site of the collapsed building, Oniru said that since the area (Ebute-Metta) was a flood-prone area, the foundation of the collapsed building may have not been solid enough to carry the four-storey structure.