Following the collapse of a 21 storey building situated along Gerrard/Bourdillon road, Ikoyi, Lagos on Monday afternoon, new information about the building which caused its collapse has come to light.

The collapsed building which has trapped about 50 people with two dead bodies recovered from the rubbles, had an overwhelming structural defect which was as a result of a deviation from the intended original structural performance of the building.

In a letter seen exclusively by The Street Journal, written by Murtala Olawale, the managing director of Prowess Engineering Limited, the structural consultants of the building, to Femi Osibona, the owner of the collapsed building through his company, Fourscore Heights Limited, Olawale clearly stated that his company was withdrawing its services from the now collapsed building as the two companies no longer share the same vision about the structure.

In the letter dated February 20, 2020 and titled ‘Re-Proposed Gerrard Terraces for Fourscore Limited,’ Olawale said that while he can guarantee the integrity of two buildings whose services his company provided for Fourscore Heights, as well as a third one up till the fourth floor, having met required concrete strength, he will however not take further responsibility of the third building over construction errors that may have occurred on the project over time as his company does not have control over the concrete cube test results of each stage of the building up until the time the letter was written.

While expressing his regret over his company’s decision, Olawale asked Osibona’s company to remove the company logo and name of his company, Prowess Engineering Services from the project board and to also notify all necessary approving authorities of his company’s withdrawal from the project.

See copy of the letter below

Meanwhile the spokesperson for the Lagos State Emergency Agency, Nosa Okunbo, confirmed the collapse, saying, “A 25-storey building collapsed by Musliu Junction, Ikoyi, Lagos. LASEMA is on top of the situation.”

Also, the Director-General of LASEMA, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, noted that heavy-duty equipment and life detection equipment have been deployed to the scene.

Due to high frequency with which buildings collapse in Lagos, the state government recently launched a rebranded certificate of completion and fitness.
The objective of the certificate is to safeguard the lives of residents and address the root causes of structure collapse incidents
Following the launch, the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) was empowered with the mandate of issuing the certificate to all existing structures.
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Lagos governor, had linked previous collapse incidents recorded in the state to low compliance to physical planning laws.