An unidentified welder has been confirmed dead in a building which collapsed on Aromire Street, in the Ikeja area of Lagos State.
The building was said to be under renovation when it caved in around 6.35pm on Wednesday.
An eyewitness, Amos Akintunde, said the victim was alone in the building when the incident happened.
He said, “When the middle floor fell on him, no one noticed on time because people were not around. It was his colleague who was on the premises that raised the alarm before people started to pull up the rubble.”
Another eyewitness, who identified himself only as Wilson, said emergency responders arrived around 7pm.
He said, “It was until they arrived that they were able to remove the body.”
The Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, in a statement on Thursday, said the building, formerly occupied by Kilms Mart, was being worked on by labourers when it partially collapsed.
He said, “The agency responded to distress calls and upon arrival, discovered that a storey building formerly occupied by Kilms Mart, was being worked on by unskilled labourers resulting in a partial collapse.
“An adult male reported to be a welder lost his life instantly at the scene. His remains were recovered and removed from the scene.
“The post-disaster assessment conducted by the agency’s LRT indicates that the building is stable and does not pose a threat to other buildings around. The building has been cordoned off and LASBCA and Nigeria Police have been contacted for further action.”
An official of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, who did not want to be identified because he was not authorised to speak on the incident, said the work being carried out on the building was illegal.
“We have brought the building down to ground zero,” he added.
The Director of Public Affairs, Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mukaila Sanusi, said there was no approval for the building work.
He said, “It is a case of illegal demolition being carried out by people working on the site. The building did not just collapse; it happened because they were doing unapproved removal. If you go there, you’ll see that it has been brought to ground zero.”
