Lagos building agencies are culpable in 21-storey Ikoyi collapse – Coroner

Relevant building agencies in Lagos state have been indicted by the Coroner set up to unravel the remote and immediate cause of the collapse Ikoyi 21-storey building, where scores of human lives were lost.

According to the Lagos Coroner, Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe, the building agencies’ negligence in adhering to the best practice in building industry responsible for approval and supervision of the project are directly involved in the disaster.

He said in addition that the supervising agencies deliberately failed to carry out their functions because they were already compromised.

This was the synopsis of judgment of the Lagos Coroner set up to unravel the circumstances that led to the November 1, 2021 building collapse at 44, Gerard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Chief Magistrate Komolafe in his findings, held that the building’s density and setback on the site showed gross violations of the Lagos State Building Regulations.

He noted that the project board which should have boldly shown the sensitive and important informations of the names and addresses of the professionals who carried out the project were deliberately not provided.

He said: “This act shows the approving and supervising agencies did not sanction the offender, suggesting that they were compromised.”

He held that there was no quality assurance/control and poor project management on the project site.

He noted that the building structure failure was due to the design errors and combined stress failure of the columns at the lower floors.

Chief Magistrate Komolafe adopted the recommendation contained in the Council for the Regulations of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) report as the report of the inquest.

He urged the relevant authorities concerned with the implementation of the recommendations to implement it accordingly.

It would be recalled that the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON) had also told the Coroner during the inquest that none of its members was involved in the project.

A registered builder, and member of CORBON, Ahmed Babatunde, made the assertion when being questioned on May 17 at the inquest.