Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, has commiserated with families of victims who lost their lives, most of whom are children in a three-storey building, which collapsed in Ita Faaji area of Lagos Island on Wednesday.

Ambode commiserated with the family when he visited the scene of the collapsed building, located at No 14, Massey Street, Opposite Oja, Ita-Faaji, housing a primary school on its pent house, caved in at about 10am trapping scores of pupils of the school in the process.

He described the incident as unfortunate, appealing to residents to allow rescue operators the space to carry out their operations without any hindrance so as to rescue more children still trapped under the rubbles.

Giving a brief of the situation, the Governor said he had received information that the building was a residential one, with the school operating illegally within the premises, adding that about two floors of the building sunk to the ground.

He said most of the buildings in the area had been marked for demolition but that some property owners in the area defied such notices, assuring structural defective buildings would be demolished.

“The first observation is that this is an old building and it is only the Pent House and the other floors that we have been able to use to rescue people.

“So far, from what I have been briefed, we have rescued about 25 people and some already dead but we were earlier informed that it was a school, the building is not technically a school, it is a residential building that was actually accommodating an illegal school so to speak on the second floor.

“Like we have said, we have been carrying out a lot if integrity tests on the buildings in this neighborhood and as you can see, some of them have been marked for demolition but we get resistance from landlords but we must continue to save lives and we would intensify our efforts to see that those have failed our integrity test, we would ensure that they are quickly evacuated and we bring the structures down,” he said.

Ambode also said a full scale investigation would be carried out immediately rescue operations are concluded, vowing those found culpable would be severely dealt with in accordance with the relevant laws.

“This is unfortunate but we will investigate what has happened and also see the punishment for whoever are the culprits.

‘’That is the secondary level but the most important thing right now is to save lives and I just appeal to people that they should give us the chance to save more lives,” he said.

He assured rescue operations would continue until all victims are rescued, adding that the General Officer Commanding 81 Division and the Brigade Commander were on ground to maintain peace and ensure smooth rescue operations.

“That is what is important to us and the more lives we save, the better for us,” he said.

Responding to a concern raised by a resident on the increase in illegal schools in the area, Governor Ambode said all schools that fall within that category would be closed down.

Also, some residents of Ita-faji have appealed to the Lagos State government to stop developers from constructing houses beyond three storeys.

The residents who spoke with our correspondent lament the high number of lives that have been lost to the collapse of such buildings in the past.

They also appealed to the government to stop churches and school owners in the area from using high-rise buildings as their base for operations

They also alleged that the collapsed building had been marked for demolition but government officials failed to carry out the demolition because the owner bribed them.

“The building has been marked for demolition, but the government officials always take a bribe. The building has been giving signs of weakness but whenever government officials come, the owner always bribes them.

“The owners always boast they have people in government that they can bribe to overlook the proposed demolition of the building” one of the residents alleged.