For transparency on the expected outcome of the fact finding committee set up by the Lagos State government to ascertain what caused the collapse of the 21-Storey building in Ikoyi, owned by Femi Osibona, stakeholders have demanded that the panel’s sittings be made public.
The six-man investigation team was set up last week by the State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu to probe into the remote cause of the building’s collapse on Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, with a charge on the members to uphold highest professional standards, but stakeholder believe that making their daily activities public will ensure confidence in the report and justice served.
Members of the probe panel comprise professional builders, town planner, structural engineers and legal practitioners, all from the private sector. The panel has 30 days to submit its report in the first instance.
Meanwhile, as the sittings of the panel entered day six, activities of the team had remained shrouded in secrecy as no public announcement has been made by the chairman so far.
Most of the questions posed to Ayinde via his WhatsApp line had not been responded to.
A media executive, Dele Momodu, in a statement, charged the panel to be fair on its assignment and come up with objective recommendations that would serve as deterrent to others and prevent avoidable loss of lives.
Momodu said: “The outcome of the inquest and the investigation, which has been ordered must be done diligently. It must not be hurried. It must be painstaking and thorough. Such investigations cannot last 30 days as being directed by the government.
“I foresee that any credible inquiry must take months of arduous diligent work. Various possibilities including negligence sabotage and even natural or human causes such as the over-dredging occurring in that vicinity must be considered. Dead men tell no tales. They cannot defend themselves, but records and logic abound.
“Those making claims and allegations, which are easily rumpled will soon be exposed.”
But the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, in his daily update on the incident said: “The panel of inquiry set up by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to find out why the building went down and suggest ways of stopping such incidents has continued its sittings.
“It is collecting documents that may help unravel the mystery of the collapsed building.”
Meanwhile, Omotoso, in a statement dismissed reports that the state government plans to demolish two high-rise buildings standing at the site of the 21-storey collapsed building in Ikoyi, Lagos.
Omotoso, in a statement, said: “Contrary to speculations, no directive has been given for the demolition of the two high-rise buildings standing at the site of the 21-storey collapsed building in Ikoyi, Lagos.
“The Panel of Inquiry instituted into the collapse of the building has continued to sit and an integrity test on the two buildings is yet to be conducted on the two buildings. It is, therefore, wrong to assert or speculate that the buildings will be demolished.
“The operation at the site of the collapsed building continues. Vehicular movement around the site has been smooth, following the reopening of the road.
“Two more bodies were recovered from the site today. The recovery of the two bodies has brought to 45 the number of bodies retrieved from the site.
“The identification of bodies of the victims of the incident has continued at IDH, Yaba, Lagos Mainland. Thirty-two families have come forward to submit samples for DNA to identify bodies that they wish to claim. In cases where identification is clear and there are no arguments, the bodies will be released to the families.
“A committee to supervise the identification and release of the bodies has begun work. It comprises senior officials of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Justice.”
