* Developer’s whereabouts still unknown
Nine persons have been brought out alive while 19 others were brought out dead from the ruin of the collapsed 21-storey building on Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
As of 5.00pm on Tuesday, the survivors were taken to the hospital, while the casualties were carried to the mortuary.
But swiftly, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu ordered the indefinite suspension of the General Manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Mr. Gbolahan Oki, with immediate effect, and indicated the readiness of the government to set up panel probe the incident.
The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, made the disclosure in a statement made available to newsmen, saying that members of the panel would be drawn from the Nigeria Institute of Architects (NIA), Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE) and other professional bodies.
According to the commissioner, the panel will independently investigate the remote and immediate causes of the incident and make recommendations on how to prevent future occurrence, but quickly pointed out that the investigation was not going to be part of the internal probe already being conducted by the government.
He, however, said a help desk would be set up at the site for people seeking information about their relations who may have been involved in the incident, assuring that the media would be notified of “information whenever the need arises to avoid any sensational reporting of the unfortunate incident.”
The deputy governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, who visited the site of the incident and the hospital where some of the rescued victims are being treated, promised that the government would foot the medical bills of those affected.
He said some casualties of the collapsed building who were brought in to the hospital dead had been deposited in the morgue.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Olusegun Ogboye, who accompanied Hamzat on the visit, assured the victims of quality and optimal health care service at the facility.
Relatives, sympathisers rue slow pace of rescue operations
What could have degenerated into a major crisis was averted on Tuesday as relatives and sympathisers of victims trapped in the building staged a protest over what they described as ‘Snail pace movement’ of rescue operations at the site.
Safe for prompt intervention of the army on guard, there would have been stampede at the site as the protesters and other sympathisers threatened to force themselves into the building to commence rescue operation. The move was hinged on the fact that the approved rescue team on site abandoned the operation for a while and went on break while many of the victims were still trapped in the rubble.
“Only four people have been rescued since morning. We are begging you, please allow our boys to join in the rescue operation. As you can see, the operation had stopped since on the pretense that the rescue team was on break, while we have our brothers and loved ones trapped in the rubble. Delay in rescue operations like this is dangerous. They should allow us to move in to help to rescue our loved ones,” one of the protesters said.
Another woman, Wunmi, claimed that her two brothers were still in the rubble, appealing to the government to expedite action on the rescue operation.
Authorities of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development on Tuesday directed the mobilisation of immediate emergency response towards rescue operations at the site.
The minister, Sadiya Umar Farouq, who issued the directive in Abuja, expressed shock at the incident.
“This is tragic. I sympathise with the Lagos State government and families of people still trapped inside the rubble. We have mobilised immediate rescue operations through the NEMA team from the Lagos Territorial Office to team up with the state SEMA.
“NEMA has also facilitated mobilisation of response involving heavy duty equipment for rescue operations and security for crowd control,” she said.
Developer’s whereabouts still unknown
Relations of the developer of the collapsed building, Femi Osibona, were as of Tuesday evening still uncertain of his whereabouts.
The family members, including his wife, arrived at the scene of the incident on Monday with expectations of Osibona being rescued.
An unnamed family members was quoted as saying: “As of now (Tuesday evening) nobody knows what has happened to him. The wife and some of his family members were there yesterday with the hope that he would be rescued. The wife fainted when she saw the enormity of the damage and the loss of lives. She had to be taken away from the scene.”
-Media Report