Joy Anyim
A three-year-old boy, Kehinde Okedairo, lost his life, on Monday night, when a distressed three-storey building, at Palm Church Street, Agarawu, Lagos Island, collapsed.
It was gathered that the boy, a twin, was sleeping with his mother in their room at No. 4, Hassani Lane, Agarawu, when the distressed building behind theirs caved in and fell on the deceased.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the collapsed building had been marked for demolition by the Lagos State Government.
The incident reportedly happened at about 10:40p.m. while the mother was able to escape and the little boy was trapped under the rubble.
Eyewitness account has it that youths from the community rushed to the scene to rescue the boy, but to no avail, not until about 12:50a.m. the next day, when he was rescued. Unfortunately, he was already dead.
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Speaking with our correspondent, Chairman of the CDA in the area, Mr. Fatai Oriade, said that the distressed house had been marked for demolition for long by the state government agency on building control.
Oriade said the agency had however failed to carry out the exercise until when it caused havoc.
He said, “When we noticed that the building had been marked for demolition we ordered every occupants of the house to move out, because we don’t want to witness another calamity and after they had gone we padlocked the house, to prevent people from sleeping there.
“When we saw the Lagos State building control officials, we approached them to come to our rescue and know the situation of the building.
“But, unfortunately one of them told us that it was not yet time they would come for the demolition of the house.
“If they had acted on our plea, probably the little boy wouldn’t have died. We have lost a promising boy, which nobody know what he would have become in the future.”
Another resident in the area, Taofeek Abimbola said there were lots of marked building yet to be demolished by the building agency.
He said: “As I speak with you now, there is a building marked for demolition at No. 28 Agarawu Street, which is a three-storey building posing danger to the residents.
“We are dying like chicken on the Island as a result of collapsed building; government should not relent in the demolition exercise they embarked on. I learnt the boy was the only child of her mother, I don’t know where the woman will start from.
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“We hear the mother of the little boy has been taken to her sister house because of the shock and people coming to console her.
“The incoming governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu should take the issue of building collapse on the Island seriously.”
“Developers should also be held responsible. Many people have lost their lives through the houses built by these developers, government should arrest and prosecute any developer whose building collapse and use them as a deterrent to others.”
When our correspondent visited the scene of incidence, officials of the Lagos state building control agency, Lagos State Ambulance Emergency Service (LASAMBUS) and policemen from Adeniji Adele police division were seen at the scene of the collapsed building.
