A six-man panel has been inaugurated to investigate the actual cause of the twenty one storey building collapse that took place recently in Ikoyi Lagos.
The Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu made this known when he visited the site of the collapsed building.
The panel which will be chaired by the president of the National Institute of Town Planners, Toyin Ayinde will run for thirty days with a possible extension if the 30 days term of reference given was not enough.
Mr. Sanwo-Olu urged the panel to be professional and factual in their findings.
“The state government is interested in unraveling and getting to the root cause of what happened to the building hence, the inauguration. Everyone that has hand in this including the Government, will learn from the very unfortunate incident. Lagosians and the world will be watching and waiting keenly, with the full expectation that the immediate and remote causes of this tragedy will be uncovered,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the death toll of the victims of the twenty one storey building collapse in Ikoyi Lagos has continued to rise as the search and rescue efforts continue in the site.
The Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency NEMA, Ibrahim Fariloye said that so far, 36 people have been recovered dead and nine rescued alive.
According to him, the 36 people are 3 female and 33 male while the nine survivors are 8 male and one female.
He said that they will not relent in their efforts in ensuring that lives are saved and best treatment given to the survivors.
“Up till now, search and rescue operation is still ongoing and we will continue to do our best to ensure that lives are saved best treatment given to the survivors. The problem had been crowd control but we have been able to put that under control,” he added.
The training adviser of the Nigeria Red Cross Society Lagos State Branch, Segun Akande said that efforts are on the top gear to fish out the actual cause of the collapsed building expressing shock that a project of that magnitude could be mishandled after passing through professionals.
“The number of dead is rising. For the past two days, we have been recovering only the dead, I believe with the efforts of government, the actual cause of the collapse will be revealed. It sounds funny that a project of this magnitude which has gone through professionals was mishandled. Every contractor needs to be upright and avoid short cuts,“ he said.
Expectations have been high as relatives of the victims keep wishing to see their loved ones exhumed either alive or dead.
The father of one of the victims, Godwin Abel still prays to see his seventeen years old son, Emmanuel Abel exhumed either alive or dead.
“I am devastated. I want to see if my son is alive or dead. I want the press men to ask, his name is Emmanuel, an apprentice that came from Abuja,“ he cried.
