Lagos State Building Control Agency begins demolishing 180 defective houses on the island

LAGOS State Building Control Agency (Lasbca) officials have announced radical plans to demolish 180 defective houses on Lagos Island in response to the recent tragedy in Ita Faaji that saw a four-storey building collapse with significant loss of life.

On Wednesday, the Ita Faaji building which also houses a primary school of about 100 pupils, caved in on itself, killing students, staff and a few parents. With reports indicating that the building had been earmarked for demolition but the Lagos State government refused to act on a request that it be pulled down for two years, Lasbca has decided to act.

With the huge public outrage over the matter, Lasbca has agreed to begin pulling down the 180 or so houses on Lagos Island that have been earmarked for demolition. Lasbca general manager Lekan Shodeinde, said 20 of the buildings would be demolished today alone, with the remaining pulled down over the coming week.

Already, the exercise has begun with the agency’s task force starting off with the demolition of a three-storey building on 60A Freeman Street, Epetedo. According to Lasbca, the owners of these defective properties had been served several notices dating back to 2013.