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The Lagos State government has identified 149 distressed and defective buildings and marked them for demolition.
Prince Rotimi Ogunleye, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, revealed this on Sunday after five houses were demolished on Lagos Island by the state government.
The commissioner said of the 149 buildings, 40 of them have been demolished.
Ogunleye stated that the demolition was done in order to avert the repeat of the collapse of the building in Ita Faji area of Lagos Island last Wednesday, that led to the death of 20 people. Many people were also injured in the incident.
The houses demolished on Sunday were 25, Elegbata Street, Apongbon; 199, Tokunbo Street; 27, Inabiri Street; 16, Egatin Street, and 45, John Street.
Ogunleye added that the state government would comb the whole state for structurally defective building, and advised landlords whose houses have been marked to either demolish them or risk forfeiting the houses to the government.
Speaking on how people secretly move into marked-for-demolition buildings, Ogunleye said: “In some instances, where the owners and occupiers were served with notices and evacuated, people secretly returned to re-occupy the buildings, despite the sealing off of the structures by the LASBCA.”
He warned that the government would invoke Section 74 of the Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law and move to take over any house or building that collapses due to the “negligence of owner or developer in the state".
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