The Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), has conformed an earlier report by the NPO Reports that the developer of the 21 storey building that collapsed in Lagos on Monday exceeded the limit of the approval granted by the agency.
The General Manager, Architect Gbolahan Oki, while speaking with journalists, said his agency gave the approval for only 15 floors before the developer went as far as 21 floors before the building collapsed on Monday.
NPO had reported earlier, quoting a source who pleaded anonymity that the agency’s approval was exceeded.
Oki said the owner of the property has been arrested and would face the law because people have died in the disaster.
He said, “He got an approval for a 15-storey building and he exceeded his limit. I am on ground here and the materials he used are so inferior and terrible.
“The materials he used, the reinforcement, are so terrible. He got approval for 15 floors but built 21.
“I think he has been locked down. He has been arrested before now,” he said.
The GM said four people were rescued alive and three people died, adding that rescue efforts were still ongoing.
“We are still here and have four machines working as at this moment,” he told NAN.
At least 50 people are reportedly trapped under the rubble after a 21-storey building collapsed in Ikoyi, Lagos State.
It will be recalled that the supervising structural engineering firm, Prowess Engineeering Limited, had withdrawn from the construction works citing violations of building regulations as the main reason.
