Ikoyi building collapse: Unravelling faces behind Fourscore Homes

Two weeks after the collapse of a 21-storey tower in Ikoyi, Lagos, killing 45 persons, very little is known about the operational modality and structure of Fourscore Homes Limited, the developer of the structure.

Daily Trust has however unearthed details of the company which unveiled directors of the company and its registered address, and visited locations in Lagos in search of traces for full identities of those behind the firm.

The owner of the real estate company, Mr Femi Osibona, was confirmed dead in the disaster, which also claimed many lives, including his friend, Wale Bob-Oseni, who was to travel to the US the same day and only branched at the project site on Osibona’s invitation. Also killed in the rubbles were Osibona’s personal assistant, identified as Onyinye, and a corps member, Zaynab Sanni, who was originally deployed to Borno but redeployed for fear of insurgency.

But since the disaster, questions have been asked about the company–its structure, management team and other key officials.

The company has no known website and no key official in the public domain who can speak on its behalf to set the record straight on the circumstances leading to the collapse, which left sour tastes in many families and homes.

Observers have also described as worrisome that a company handling such a multi-billion naira project has not opened a condolence register or issued any statement since the tragedy struck.

Daily Trust observed that Osibona’s family has also maintained silence on the unfortunate incident, while none of the subscribers to the project has made any claim yet.

Unravelling the faces behind Fourscore Homes

According to records from the Corporate Affairs Commission obtained by Daily Trust, Fourscore Homes and Investment Limited was registered on May 24, 2001 as a private company limited by shares.  The company, with a registered address at 34, Emmanuel High Street, Ojota, Lagos, has six directors, namely, Osibona Olufemi Adegoke, Osibona Oladoyin, Osibona Toluwalase and Osibona Oluwapelumi – all sharing same address with the company.

 

The other two directors of the company were Francis O. Nmeribe and Adaeze O. Nmeribe of No 1, John Eteta Ita Street, Calabar, Cross River State.

Further checks revealed that Oladoyin is the wife of Mr Osibona, while Toluwalse and Oluwapelumi are his children. The second daughter, Oluwapelumi, is studying Medicine in the United Kingdom, indicating that the children were infants when the company was registered more than 20 years ago.

Daily Trust discovered that the registered address of the company, is a house belonging to the aged father of the deceased, Chief Emmanuel Osibona, who is the Baba Ijo of Our Saviour’s Anglican Church, Ikenne.

It was gathered that the Osibonas grew up in the house, known as Emmanuel House.

When our correspondent visited the location, it was discovered that Pa Osibona, who relocated to Ikenne over a year ago, still maintains an apartment in the block of flats. There are five other flats occupied by tenants, it was learnt.

“The house belongs to Pa Osibona, but he has relocated to his place. He visits sometimes,” James Kagye, who operates a dry-cleaning service within the premises reluctantly offered.

He declined further comment, adding that none of the tenants were around to speak with our correspondent.

However, some neighbours who spoke with Daily Trust said they never knew that such a high-profile individual owned the house.

“I live at the next house, but I am not aware that the house belongs to his (Femi) father. The house is a very quiet place and I am not sure I know the tenants there,” a neighbour, Mr Femi Agboola said.

However, another neighbour disclosed that Femi’s sister, Mrs Ebunoluwa, visited the house earlier in the day.

“She was here earlier today (yesterday). In fact, you missed her by some hours. Many people don’t know her because this area is residential and everybody minds their businesses. The family also keeps a low-profile,” he said.

It was learnt that the late developer had a heart of gold, especially in supporting orphanages in the country. He is credited with the building and furnishing of Little Saints Orphanages in Ogudu. The home is known as Dorcas Osibona House.

Nmeribe: Former DSS staff working with Osibona

The first on the company’s list of directors, Francis Onyebueze Nmeribe, according to his page on Linkedin, is the president/executive producer of Townhall Communication Company Limited.

The CAC records obtained by this newspaper did not reveal share allocation for Mr Nmeribe it is unclear if Nmeribe still has any connection with Fourscore Homes as there is no mention of it in his curriculum vitae and social media accounts. But the filings at the time of registration showed that he and his wife were the first two listed directors.

He claimed in his curriculum vitae that he has over 29 years of “quality experience in security drill and inspection, surveillance, VIP protection, investigation, disciplinary procedures, vetting, command and control room management, kidnap and ransom negotiation training and hands-on experience, crisis management and threat analysis, among others. He was also a principal staff officer, Vetting and Liaison in the Department of State Services from 1995 to 2005”.

If indeed Mr Nmeribe was a DSS personnel till 2005, it means he illegally registered a real estate company against the Code of Conduct law for public officers.

Nmeribe, who now prides himself as a public speaker, is the author of ‘Retire Early to Wealth and Fame’.

Curiously, Nmeribe and his partner, Adaeze, also incorporated Heritage Technologies Limited in Calabar, with registration number, 421217 on July 20, 2001, about two months after Fourscore Homes and Investment Limited was incorporated in Lagos. They used the same address in Calabar for the two companies.

Efforts to speak with Mr Nmeribe on his roles in the formation of Fourscore Homes and Investment Limited and his duties as a director proved abortive as at the time of filing this report, as he didn’t respond to numerous calls and text messages from our correspondent.

The mystery at Shalom Homes

While there is no record that the deceased developer applied for a change of address for his company with the CAC, 2-4 Moseley Street, Ikoyi, Lagos is paraded as the head office of Fourscore Homes Limited in some available documents by the company.

There was no signpost indicating that the company has an office there when Daily Trust visited.

Our correspondent, however, discovered that the said address is actually a residential estate in the area.

The building, known as Shalom Home, it was learnt, was where the owner resided, which he probably used as an office. Our correspondent reports that the building is just a stone throw to the site of the collapsed building on 44B, C & D Gerald Road, Ikoyi.

Shalom Home, also known as Shalom Apartments, which comprises 36 luxury flats, four penthouses, a swimming pool and gym, was built by Osibona’s Fourscore in 2010.

No resident was ready to speak about the man when our correspondent visited the quiet, serene environment.

One of the security men who spoke with our correspondent said, “Yes, I am aware that the man lived here and used the place as an office, but I really don’t know the actual flat he lived in and used as an office.”

It is unclear if there are other people working in the company, or if they have gone underground since the unfortunate incident happened.

Efforts to also speak with one of the relatives of the deceased also proved abortive.

Subscribers at a loss as building was not ‘insured’

High profile individuals, including the Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, were among the dignitaries who visited the project before one of the three towers collapsed.

The structure was said to be 80 per cent completed and was billed to be concluded in 2022.

The price range for the apartment is said to be between $1.2 million and $5 million (approximately N 2.6billion, using the exchange rate of N410/$1)

According to Highbrow Living magazine, the property, consisting of four-bedroom maisonettes, flats, duplex and penthouses, was 65 per cent sold out.

“The 20-floor strictly residential facility is the brainwork of Fourscore Homes, evolving from a desire to build an original masterpiece. The concept is to have service flats in the three towers for residents to experience a stress-free lifestyle, complete with a hotel flair with a 360-degree view of Lagos State,” the magazine reads.

Other planned features of the “luxury in the sky” building include an open recreation area with outdoor television, gym and swimming pool.

There are indications that subscribers to the project and other victims might not be compensated as the building was not insured, it was learnt.

It was gathered that the deceased developer did not insure the structure as stated in the permit granted by the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority (LAPPPA).

“A developer of any building above two floors shall insure his/her liability in respect of construction risks and submit a certified true copy of such insurance policy certification with his/her development permit to the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA),” reads part G of the development permit number DCB/DO/2442IV, dated April 9, 2019.

Section 64(1) of The Insurance Act 2003 also made it compulsory for developers to insure their buildings.

“No person shall cause to be constructed any building of more than two floors without insuring with a registered insurer, his liability in respect of construction risks caused by his negligence or the negligence of his servants, agents or consultants, which may result in bodily injury or loss of life to, or damage to property of any workman on the site or of any member of the public,” the section reads.

Sub-section 3 of the said section imposed a fine of N250,000 or imprisonment for three years, or both, on defaulters.

We’ll speak after panel submits report — Prowess Engineering Limited

Prowess Engineering Limited, the project consultants and civil engineering company that withdrew its services from the building in 2020 over poor execution of the project, declined comment when Daily Trust on Sunday contacted them.

The company insisted that while it stands by its statement, it would not make further comments until the panel set up by the government concludes its sittings.

“All we have to say is in that statement. We can’t say anything for now until the panel concludes its assignment,” the managing director of the engineering company, Muritala Olawale, told our correspondent.

Daily Trust reported that Olawale, in a letter dated February 20, 2020 and addressed to Osibona, stated that the firm could no longer guarantee the integrity of the ill-fated building because it did not have the concrete cube test results for each stage of the building. 

“We can guarantee the integrity of the first two buildings and works done, up to the fourth floor of the third building supervised by us, provided specifications have been met in terms of the required concrete strength,” he had stated in the letter.

Real estate not a one-man business — Experts

A former president of the Nigeria Institute of Builders (NIOB), Kunle Awobodu, said the company appeared to be a one-man business, which should not be the case in a multibillion-naira industry like real estate.

He said, “You are talking of a business that involves billions of naira. So, definitely he should have accountants and admin manager. That means he is using his residence as office.”

He added that it is unprofessional to engage direct labour for a massive project such as a high-rise building.

“We have been advising developers to give their projects to construction companies. For people to be developers and also construction companies is not the best. It is not the best to do a massive structure by direct labour. Investors can relieve themselves of the risk involved in construction by giving construction to companies to handle. This is because when the chips are down, who is to be blamed?” he queried.

The building expert stressed that developers should partner construction companies in order to protect their names and investments.

“Developers are investors; they can protect their names by partnering with construction companies because a construction company has structure. It is just like transferring the risk involved in construction to those that were established to construct buildings,” he added.

Probe panel takes samples, invites stakeholders

Our correspondent learnt that the mystery around the company is one of the issues the probe panel of six professionals set up by the state government would be looking into.

The six-man panel has been visiting the scene again to take some samples.

A source close to the panel, led by the president of the Nigeria Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Mr Toyin Ayinde, said, “The panel was at the scene yesterday to take samples of all the materials used, like the steel reinforcement bars and others.”

It was learnt that the materials sampled would be subjected to a test to ascertain whether the right specifications were used or not.

In addition, the source, who spoke with our correspondent in confidence because he was not authorised to talk to the press, added that the panel had started conducting interviews with the survivors to get first-hand information.

“The interview is ongoing already, and I can tell you that the panel is on course to deliver on its mandate in line with the terms of reference given to it by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu,” he added.

Another source told Daily Trust on Sunday that the panel had sent out letters to all the relevant agencies to come forward to give account of what they know about the building and actions taken at every point.

Questions around every requirement needed before and during such a project would be asked, such as issues of land permit, building permit, building control, number of storey approved etc.

No plan to demolish other high-rise buildings at the site of collapse

Governor Sanwo-Olu has, however, ordered structural integrity tests on the two high-rise structures in the premises where the 21-storey collapsed.

The action, he said, was necessary to safeguard the lives of emergency workers on the rescue operation.

“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. The panel of inquiry instituted to establish issues surrounding the collapse of the building has continued to sit and an integrity test is yet to be conducted on the buildings.

“It is, therefore, wrong to assert or speculate that the buildings will be demolished,” the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso said.

The commissioner also noted that identification of bodies of the victims of the incident had continued at IDH, Yaba, Lagos Mainland.

“Thirty-two families have come forward to submit samples for DNA to identify bodies they wish to claim. In cases where identification is clear and there are no arguments, the bodies will be released to the families,” he added.

The commissioner also disclosed that journalists were barred from the panel of inquiry because the panel has been made private to allow members to concentrate fully on their assignments.

He described the panel of inquiry as a ‘very serious session,’ adding that they can summon anybody for questioning.

There are so many things they may want to take in camera so that people would not come there and begin to disturb them. They need full concentration,” he said.

Omotosho said the government gave the panel the powers to do whatever they like, including summoning anybody for questioning.

source: daily trust