The Lagos State Building Control Agency on Monday said it was forced to partially demolish a storey building located on Oladele Odusanya Street, off Ademulegun Street, Ireakari Estate, Oshodi-Isolo, after occupants ignored repeated warnings about the structure’s safety risks.
The agency issued the clarification amid speculations surrounding its decision to pull down part of the building.
Explaining the action in a statement signed by its Director of Public Affairs, Adu Ademuyiwa, LASBCA said the property had been under close monitoring for several months due to its distressed condition.
“The building had been under strict monitoring for several months due to its highly distressed condition,” the agency said, adding that several evacuation notices were served on occupants long before the enforcement exercise.
According to LASBCA, the first evacuation notice was issued on March 3, 2025, after a structural inspection revealed that the building posed a serious safety risk to residents and neighbouring properties.
“Among the major concerns raised in the engineering report was a burst water pipe, which had been continuously soaking the main support pillars of the structure, further weakening its stability,” the statement said.
The agency noted that despite repeated warnings and follow-up notices issued over nine months, the occupants failed to comply with evacuation directives.
“Officials explained that the goal of the notices was to prevent avoidable loss of lives and property, in line with the state government’s mandate to ensure public safety through proactive building regulation,” the statement added.
LASBCA said the decision to partially demolish the building became unavoidable as its condition continued to deteriorate and residents refused to vacate.
“With the building’s condition worsening and occupants declining to vacate, the agency had no choice but to carry out a partial demolition to avert imminent danger,” it said, stressing that the action followed exhaustive efforts to secure voluntary compliance.
The agency further disclosed that all evacuation notices and the structural assessment report had been documented as evidence of due process, alongside photographs showing the compromised state of the building.
Reiterating its commitment to safeguarding lives, LASBCA urged residents across the state to comply with safety directives, warning that failure to heed evacuation notices could lead to avoidable tragedies from building collapse.
Lagos State has in recent times witnessed recurring cases of building collapse, with experts blaming a combination of non-compliance by occupants, poor construction practices by contractors, and negligence by property owners, while calling on the government to strengthen monitoring and enforcement.
In October, a two-storey building reportedly collapsed at 54 Cole Street, near Cemetery Bus Stop in the Oyingbo area of Lagos, trapping an undisclosed number of persons.
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