Lagos - Lagos authorities have said there is no record that the Synagogue Church of All Nations management had secured building approval to add several storeys on to the church guest house that collapsed on Friday.
The two-storey building collapsed while an extra four floors were under construction. Reports are that there had been no strengthening of the structure before the new floors were added.
The Lagos state commissioner for physical planning and urban development, Olutoyin Ayinde, said on Wednesday: “The investigation is ongoing, but there is no proof that the church obtained a permit to add additional structures to existing ones.”
At least 30 buildings have collapsed in Lagos in the past 12 years.
Building experts have called on the Nigerian government to take legal action against the church management if it is found culpable for the disaster.
A former commissioner of physical planning and urban development in Lagos state, Bolaji Abosede, said on Wednesday if the builder were found to have erected any structure without approval, there should be no double standards in the application of the law.
“If it is found out that the church is negligent, the government should confiscate that land, no double standards. If the owner of the building did not apply for approval, or professionals were not involved, then he is liable for the disaster,” Abosede said.
Kunle Awobodu, president of the Building Collapse Prevention Guild, said his organisation was investigating the collapse.
“The government should address the issue of building collapse more seriously by applying the relevant laws,’’ he said.
Experts have blamed the high number of collapsed buildings in Lagos on bad designs, faulty construction, foundation failure, extraordinary loads due to additional floors not usually approved by the government and the use of unqualified contractors.
Added to this was poor monitoring of construction and a lack of enforcement of building codes by town planning officials.
Pilate Moyo, a structural expert in UCT’s civil engineering department, said if a building was designed to carry a certain amount of weight, it would need to be strengthened before additional weight was added.
“A building’s foundations are like legs. If you keep adding weight, at some point your legs will buckle. If you add weight to a building, there are two options: either you strengthen the foundations, make them deeper and stronger, or you make new foundations around the existing ones, rather like adding more legs to carry the weight.
“It’s not just foundations that would need to be retrofitted, but also pillars or weight-bearing walls, because what one is doing is changing the function of the building. It was designed to carry X, now it has to carry something else as well,” Moyo said.
Reports from Lagos are that two extra floors have been added on to the main church building as well.
The church management decided to add the four floors on to the guest house to cater for the increasing number of visitors that come from all over Africa and Asia to attend the church.
Labourers were still at work when it collapsed.
Cape Times
* The figures for dead and injured people in this disaster are still being collated. IOL will use the latest figures available to us, but be aware the numbers will fluctuate as the story is updated.