A week after the tragic incident of the collapse of a 21-storey building on Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos State, there are reports that the recovery operations are at 99% completion stage.
The responders are on the verge of concluding their operations as the death toll is reported to have risen to 44 with the recovery of additional 2 dead bodies from the rubble on Sunday.
This disclosure was made by the Acting Southwest Coordinator of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Ibrahim Farinloye on Sunday, November 7, 2021, as recovery operations are still ongoing with rescue agencies as it heads towards ground zero.
The bodies were discovered and removed after the state Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Saturday at about 6 pm said 42 bodies had been recovered so far from the rubble.
Meanwhile, the Association of Nigerian Chartered Architects has called for three probe panels to investigate the circumstances that led to the building collapse. The association said political, technical and judicial probe panels were needed to unravel the situation.
Farinloye had also disclosed that the Federal Government’s deployment of the Nigerian Army Corps of Engineers to assist in the rescue operation on Sunday evening was turned down by the Commissioner for Special Duties, Bamgbose Martins, on grounds that the work was almost over and that the resources on ground were enough to complete the outstanding job.
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Recall that on Monday, November 1, 2021, a 21-storey high-rise building located at 20 Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos State, collapsed at around 2 pm with many people trapped under the rubble of the collapsed structure.
The skyscraper owned by Fourscore Heights Limited, trapped over 50 persons including the firm’s Managing Director, Femi Osibona; his friend, a United States-based Nigerian businessman, Wale Bob-Oseni; his personal assistant, Oyinye Enekwe, and others who were later confirmed dead.
