…As ENSG demolishes sinking three-story building in Enugu***
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said 30 shops, six bungalows destroyed by fire on Saturday afternoon in Lagos had been pulled down.
The Director-General, LASEMA, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, highlighted this, after the LASEMA Response Team, Lagos State Fire Service and other agencies put out the fire which started at 2 p.m.
He explained that the buildings, some shops and other property were destroyed in the fire incident which occurred at No 16, Ladipo St., Mushin, Lagos.
Oke-Osanyintolu said the agency received distress calls to the 767/112 at about 2 p.m., saying that when they got to the scene of the incident, they discovered that a mattress shop was the initial source of the fire.
“A joint team of responders led by myself, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, Nigeria Police, Lagos State Government Fire Service, LASEMA Response Unit (LRU) fire, Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Agency worked together to curtail the inferno from escalating.
“The enumeration of the affected buildings are as follows: a single storey building with six rooms and four shops, five bungalows with 26 shops; a bungalow with a three-bed room flat,” Oke-Osanyintolu said.
The LASEMA boss added that the affected buildings had been completely levelled to the ground under his supervision.
Oke-Osanyintolu said that operation had been concluded and the response team were heading back to base.
According to him, members of the public are warned to take reasonable safety precautions to reduce the risk of fire outbreak in their places of business and homes.
He, however, said that investigation was ongoing to determine the cause of the fire.
The newsmen report that Mrs Uche Odinaka, who sold materials for chairs said she lost all her goods in the fire.
Another trader, who sold mattress, Mrs Toyin Dada, said she could not describe how the fire happened, saying that all her mattresses, mattress covers and shops were destroyed in the fire.
Also read: Gas Explosion claims 2 lives, destroys 9 shops in Lagos – LASEMA, NEMA
Dada appealed to the Lagos State Government to assist the affected people to start business again.
In another development, Enugu State Government (ENSG), on Saturday, also demolished a sinking three-storey building within the Maryland Layout axis of Enugu South Local Government Area, Enugu metropolis.
The ground floor of the building, located at number 9, Egwuekwe Street, Maryland Layout, instantly caved-in at about 2 a.m. on Saturday living the rest of the building in a perilous situation.
Speaking to newsmen while inspecting the sinking building, the State’s Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr Greg Nnaji, expressed sadness over the inability of individuals to follow adequate procedures of constructing buildings.
Nnaji said that his ministry would ensure proper investigation of the immediate and remote causes of the building collapse.
“I will advise people living around the affected building to vacate the environment because it is not safe for them until investigation about the cause of the incident is carried out,’’ he said.
Also speaking, Chairman of Enugu State Capital Territory Development Authority, Chief Joseph Onoh, said that while an investigation is ongoing; the remaining structure would be demolished and pulled down for public safety.
Onoh, who arrived at the scene with equipment, said it would be totally demolished so that nobody would occupy it under any guise to avoid recording human casualty for the state.
Earlier, some of the occupants of the building, Mr Lazarus Okoye, Mrs Rita Chukwu and Mr Ugochukwu Okorie, said they heard a mysterious sound around 2 a.m. early on Saturday.
However, they said that they never knew it was the sound of the sinking ground floor of the building they heard.
The occupants appealed to the state government and good spirited individuals to come to their aid.
At the time of filing, this report over 50 per cent of the remaining building had been demolished by the Enugu State Capital Territory Development Authority.
