Reconstruction: Ikeja residents raise the alarm over building collapse

Residents of Akora Villa Estate in the Ikeja area of Lagos State have called on the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to look into the conversion of a twin duplex in the estate to a guest house/night club.
Some residents said the reconstruction had already started leaving cracks on the building walls.
They said apart from the fact that the Akora Villa Residents Association had agreed that new business ventures should no more spring up at the estate, the conversion could lead to a total or partial collapse of the second wing of the duplex.
One of the residents whose building is close to the one being reconstructed, Mr Adesina Awe, told our correspondent that he had been living in fear because of the possible collapse of the building.
He also called on the Lagos State Building Control Agency, and Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority to urgently stop the ongoing reconstruction at 10 Badagry Street.
Awe said, “I wrote a letter to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in July 2019 and to LABSCA and the agency acted swiftly and the building was sealed off.
“But we were surprised that the workers broke the seal and resumed work at a very fast pace. Because of the heavy machines they are using, the reconstruction has damaged my walls.
“There are obvious cracks on the walls of my house due to the massive alteration of the building. My house can collapse if their work continues and that is why I wrote a save-my-soul letter to the governor.”
Another resident, Thomas Richard, also called on the state government to send its officials to investigate the alteration, saying converting the building to a night club would pose security challenge to residents.
He said, “We are calling on the governor to look into this case. We don’t want to experience building collapse in this estate.
“So many lives have been lost to building collapse in this country and we don’t want that to happen here. That is why we are appealing to the governor to order the agencies in charge of this to investigate this claim.”
Source: Punch