The Lagos State government, on Monday, partially demolished some distressed high-rise buildings on Lagos Island and Mushin districts in a bid to avert to tragedy amid fears of collapse.
The Director of Enforcement, Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Mr. Olaopa Olusoji, led the agency’s officials on the assessment and partial demolition of the identified buildings.
On Lagos Island, the team alerted residents and traders of the popular Oke-Arin Street of the danger of extremely distressed four-storey buildings in the area.
The exercise was conducted at Garba Musa Street, Mushin, where a four-storey building was partially demolished as neighbours and sympathisers gathered around the cordoned-off area.
The LABSCA officials also demolished another four-storey building at 41 Sarki Street in Idi-Araba, Mushin.
Olusoji said the team carried out the exercise after service of statutory notices.
He said the partial demolition exercise was to ensure that people evacuated immediately for total removal of the distressed structures.
“The fact is, nobody can actually say categorically when a building can go down. In fact, anybody under this condition is an unsafe condition and they are living under very high risk.
“So, we don’t want to take chances. For us, it is better to save lives than argue over a period of time. They have been given due time in terms of notices served,” the LABSCA director added.