The building collapse which occurred at seven Saidu Okeleji Street, Meiran in Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area of Lagos State is attributed to heavy loads placed on the building and substandard materials used for the construction work.

According to government, it is concerned about the attitude of some developers not building in accordance with the relevant building rules and is therefore appealing to all owners and developers to build right for the safety of lives of Lagosians.

Reacting to the collapse, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Wasiu Anifowoshe, appealing to property owners and developers to henceforth adhere strictly to Planning and Building laws and regulations to forestall re-occurrence of incidents of building collapse in the State.

Anifowoshe who commiserated with the families of those that lost their loved ones to the unfortunate incident , said the call became imperative in view of the need for property owners and developers to be mindful of the fact that people would reside in the structures and their lives were valuable.

Speaking on the building collapse, Anifowoshe said: “Investigation and reports revealed that the old building had building materials stacked on the decking and due to the heavy downpour, the decking caved in on a woman and her baby who were unfortunate to be beneath the decked shop at the time of collapse. Sadly, they lost their lives.

The Commissioner also said others who were trapped in the collapsed building have been rescued and given immediate medical attention by the Lagos State Emergency and Rescue Team.

He said having experienced series of collapse earlier in the year, the Lagos State Building Control Agency had swung into action by embarking on a comprehensive audit of buildings within the State with the view to identifying defective structures for immediate removal to avert recurrences.

As a result of the audit conducted, the Lagos State Building Control Agency as at today has identified 139 of such defective structures for removal and work has commenced in earnest. It is however very unfortunate that this particular building came down before removal,” Anifowoshe said.

While urging Lagosians to comply with planning and building regulations and not to reside in or use defective structures, the Commissioner appealed to the people to join hands with government in monitoring to rid the State of illegal developments by reporting such developments to the nearest Building Control District Office.

Besides, the Commissioner warned that no defaulter would be spared as they would be brought to book in accordance with relevant laws, saying that Government had been working tirelessly to ensure that building laws are complied with so as to achieve a significant reduction in cases of building collapse.