Photo: LASEMA begins demolition of distressed buildings in Lagos State

Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, the Director-General, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) says the agency has started demolition of distressed buildings in Lagos.

Oke-Osanyintolu spoke during the demolition of a three-storey building located at Bamigbose street, Lagos Island on Saturday, December 14th.

According to him, the three-storey building located at 54 Bamgbose Street was in a state of distress with visible crackings on different parts of the house. He said that another distressed building on the same street was also brought down to ground zero on December 11.

He said that the owners had already removed the roof of the second building located at 52 Bamgbose Street to persuade tenants to vacate the property. The LASEMA boss said that before the agency carried out the demolition, the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA); the Material Testing Agency; and Ministry of Urban and Physical Planning had made their recommendations to the government.

”The Ministry’s recommendations are necessary to carry out stress tests to ascertain the integrity of the building. After thorough investigations, the ministry agreed that the houses should be taken to ground zero.

”Consequently, the residents of the building were advised to vacate the premises within five days for their safety,” he said.

Oke-Osanyintolu said that the demolition of the building at 54 Bamgbose Street reached Ground zero between 11:30 p.m on Friday and 3:44 a.m on Saturday. He said that the Agency was committed to safety of lives and property of residents in the state and that the state government had resolved to redevelop Lagos Island.

According to him, there are many buildings that are over 100 years old across the state, adding that the demolition was in line with the state government determination to protect the lives and properties of Lagos residents.