There’s a video trending online showing how Femi Osibona, owner of Fourscore Homes, the developer of the collapsed 21-storey edifice in Ikoyi, Lagos state, resisted the sealing off of the property.
In 2020, officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), were at the property to seal it off, but Osibona stopped them from doing that with the of some of Policemen who shot into the air to disperse the officials of LASBCA and onlookers.
On Monday, 1st of November, the building, which is situated at Gerard Road in Ikoyi, collapsed killing him and about 37 others, with many more suspected to be trapped in the rubble.
Gbolahan Oki, the General Manager of LASBCA, who has been suspended said Osibona was given approval to build only 15 floors, but he ended up building 21 floors.
According to Oki: “He got an approval for a 15-storey building and he exceeded his limit. I am on ground here and the materials he used are so inferior and terrible,” Oki had said.
“The materials he used, the reinforcement, are so terrible. He got approval for 15 floors but built 21.”
Obafemi Hamzat on his part, the Deputy Governor of Lagos state, said that work at the collapsed building was stopped at a time after it failed a structural integrity test and the property sealed of for four months when some “anomalies” were observed.
It was also learnt that Prowess Engineering Limited withdrew its services from the building in 2020 over poor execution of the project.
In a letter dated February 20th, 2020, Muritala Olawale, Managing Director of Prowess Engineering Limited, said the firm can no longer vouch for the integrity of the building.
