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Ultimately, the effect of collapse of building structures is colossal. A building, once properly constructed is expected to be in use for a very long time. Buildings, like all structures, are designed to support certain loads without deforming excessively. The loads are the weights of people and objects, the weight of rain and the pressure of wind and most recently the joke called infrasonic radiation as claimed by ‘SCOAN’

With buildings of a few floors, strength generally accompanies sufficient rigidity, and the design is mainly that of a roof that will keep the weather out while spanning large open spaces. With tall buildings of many floors, the roof is a minor matter, and the support of the weight of the building itself is the main consideration. Like long bridges, tall buildings are subject to catastrophic collapse. The factors responsible for the collapse of hitherto pompous buildings are; bad design, faulty construction, foundation failure, extraordinary loads, unexpected failure modes and combination of causes. We will be taking a quick look at all the factors aforementioned;

• Bad design does not mean only errors of computation, but a failure to take into account the loads the structure will be called upon to carry, erroneous theories, reliance on inaccurate data, ignorance of the effects of repeated or impulsive stresses, and improper choice of materials or misunderstanding of their properties. The engineer is responsible for these failures, which are created at the drawing board. The final object of structural analysis is to enable the Engineering design and construct a building structure, which is satisfactory in service, and that such design must be approved by the approving body. This means that it must not collapse when loads area applied and the deformation must not be excessive. However, in Nigeria, in order to try and save cost, a lot of people patronize quacks to do designs for them and such designs are grossly inadequate and usually result in building failure.

• Faulty construction has been the most important cause of structural failure. The engineer is also at fault here, if inspection has been lax. This includes the use of salty sand to make concrete, the substitution of inferior steel for that specified, bad riveting or even improper tightening torque of nuts, excessive use of the drift pin to make holes line up, bad welds, and other practices well known to the construction worker. Even an excellently designed and constructed structure will not stand on a bad foundation. Although the structure will carry its loads, the earth beneath it may not. The funny looking storey buildings in Onitsha are typical examples of bad foundations, but there are many others. In August, 1977, a residential building in Bamawa housing Estate, Kaduna collapsed killing 27 people. On May 1986, a mosque in Oshogbo also collapsed killing two people, both catastrophe due to faulty designs. Lagos has also had its fair share of disasters due to faulty design as was evident in the 6 –storey hotel collapse that occurred at Mende village in October 1989.

• Extraordinary loads are often natural, such as repeated heavy rainfall or thunderstorm, or the shaking of an earthquake, or the winds of a hurricane. A building that is intended to stand for some years should be able to meet these challenges. A flimsy flexible structure may avoid destruction in an earthquake, while a solid masonry building would be destroyed. Earthquakes may cause foundation problems when moist filled land liquefies.

• Unexpected failure modes are the most complex of the reasons for collapse, and we have recently had a good example. Any new type of structure is subject to unexpected failure, until its properties are well understood. Suspension bridges seemed the answer to bridging large gaps. Everything was supported by a strong cable in tension, a reliable and understood member. However, sad experience showed that the bridge deck was capable of galloping and twisting without restraint from the supporting cables, the historic collapse of the U.S State of Washington, Tacoma Narrows Bridge caught on tape in the 1940 is a typical example of collapse due to unexpected failure

Tall buildings have generally been made with a rigid steel skeleton, sheathed in the lightest materials to keep out the weather. Alternatively, reinforced concrete, where the compression-resisting and protecting concrete surrounds the tough, tension-resisting steel, integrated into a single body, has been used. Such structures have never failed (when properly built on good foundations), and stoutly resist demolition. When the lower supports of a steel skeleton are destroyed, the weight of the building seems to crush the lower parts and the upper parts descend slowly into the pile of debris. Monolithic reinforced-concrete buildings are difficult to demolish in any fashion

Albeit, to effectively curb the incidences of building collapse in Nigeria;

1. All clients or building developers should be compelled to comply with approved building regulations before the construction and demolition of their buildings and that all building construction works should be well designed and supervised by a registered member of Architects’ Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON). Only competent registered contractors should be employed to execute construction works or projects.

2. The professional bodies should hold regular workshops and Continuous Professional Development Programmes (CPDP) in order to improve the professional competence of members.

3. There should be a law in every state in Nigeria, providing heavy penalties for contractors who fail to have registered professionals in supervisory capacity in major building projects. Systematic inspection of building works should be enforced at the Local Government level and penalties for failure to comply with the building standard regulation should be provided for.

4. All building construction materials like sand, cement, aggregates, reinforcement bars and particularly foundation soil should be tested before commencement of any construction. The mineralogy and alkalinity tests of coarse aggregates should be done to know whether the material contains some percentage of impurities, which deleterious and injurious to cement and reinforcement rods.

5. Government should quickly promulgate a National Building Regulation for the elimination or considerable reduction of the incessant collapse of buildings in Nigeria and quick response committee for investigating incidents of building collapse should be formed.

6. The law governing all approved structural details of buildings, materials and effective supervision by the local Town Planning Authorities should be enforced and not compromised. Section 30(1) of the Nigerian Urban and Regional Planning Decree 88 of 1992, which demands that no building or structure or any part thereof should be erected , converted, altered or enlarged unless a development permit has been obtained by the owner or his agent from the ministry should be enforced. The Government should fund this board established through the decree so as to ensure adequate monitoring of the building approval and construction in our society.

7. Government should exercise leadership in protecting and enhancing the quality of all the buildings by encouraging and enforcing regular maintenance so as to protect human life and properties.

8. All Government functionaries and building developers should be properly trained and encouraged to always give construction of large scale buildings to competent and registered contractors who will also be supervised by a registered Structural Engineering consultant and Architect who preferably have designed such projects

It is only when the rules and regulations of development control are implemented that building collapse, resulting from structural failure can be averted.

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At the headquarters of the agency last week, COREN’s Council of Registered Engineers Investigating Panel met on the matter but the action was opposed by Mr. Donald Ayibiowu, the counsel to the two engineers currently facing criminal charges before a Lagos State High Court for their involvement in the construction of the building.

The panel was convened to investigate the professional conduct of the two engineers involved in the construction of the Synagogue church building, which collapsed on September 14, 2014.

The two engineers, Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun, were represented at the hearing by their counsel, Ayibiowu.

The lawyer said the panel should not hear the testimonies of the witnesses it invited on the grounds that his clients were still in custody despite the fact that they had fulfilled all the bail conditions imposed by the court.

Ayibiowu made several attempts to dissuade the panel from forging ahead with its investigation, as he argued that the hearing should be adjourned to a later date to enable his clients to attend.

According to him, any attempt to hear the invited witnesses will amount to a breach of the principles of fair hearing and justice.

But the Chairman of the panel, Mr. Nurudeen Rafindadi, stated that the prayer of the defence counsel would not be granted since the panel’s job was a fact-finding one and not to decide on the issues at stake.

He maintained that the invited witnesses must testify at the hearing and noted that the panel would avail the defendants records of the proceedings while the counsel would also be given a chance to cross examine the two witnesses.

Talking to Ayibiowu, the panel chairman said, “Your presence here is representative of your clients. So, proceedings have to continue so as not to waste time. This panel does not have the power to determine anything. Ours is to investigate and pass the findings to the tribunal.”

Realising that his objections would not stop the panel from proceeding, as his prayers for an adjournment were ignored, Ayibiowu staged a walk out during the hearing.

But Rafindadi told journalists that the absence of the counsel would not have any implications on the outcome of the matter, especially if it would eventually get to the tribunal stage.

PUNCH.

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As of 4.30pm on Wednesday when our correspondent left Lekki Horizon 1, where the incident happened, officials were still working to bring out more victims.

PUNCH Metro had reported that a five-storey building under construction belonging to Lekki Gardens had collapsed on Tuesday, killing 18 people.

It was reported that many of the site workers were sleeping when the structure collapsed around 3am.

One more dead body was said to have been recovered late on Tuesday, bringing the casualties to 19.

Emergency workers recovered 15 more corpses on Wednesday, bringing the number of the dead to 34.

Although 13 people were rescued alive and transferred to a hospital on the Lagos Island on Tuesday, a source working with the Lagos State Ambulance Service said one of them died.

He said, “There were 13 people in all that we took to the hospital. But it was unfortunate that one of them died. Not many people know this.”

With the development, 35 people have so far lost their lives, while 12 were rescued alive.

Woman missing, four children killed

A Hausa community leader, Awa Hassan, told our correspondent that a woman, Maria, died with her four children.

He identified the children as Yakub, John, Elias and Yohanna.

Hassan said the Hausa community in the area lost about 20 persons to the disaster, appealing to the Lagos State Government to release the corpses for burial in accordance with Islamic rites.

He identified the other casualties as Abbah Alli, Mustapha, Yakub, Yusuf, Yunis, John, Ado, Ibrahim, Johnson, Isiak, Bala, Seidu, Gwani, Buhari and Ali.

He said, “There are about 20 of our people involved in this tragedy. Maria was inside the building with her four children. We have not seen her corpse yet.”

Family laments death of brothers

Abbah and Abdullahi had been declared missing since Tuesday.

Thirty-five year-old Abbah, who is married with two children, was said to be speaking with his family while under the rubble, calling for help.

His brother, Athom, told PUNCH Metro, he could have been saved if the emergency workers had responded on time.

He said, “I lost two brothers to this incident – Abbah and Abdullahi.

“Abbah spoke with us from morning till afternoon and said there was a slab on his leg. He picked his calls and begged us to get help.

“They could not save him yesterday (Tuesday). It was this morning that they brought out his corpse and that of Abdullahi. We discovered that Abbah’s leg was broken.”

James and Chidi Chikodi were among the 12 lucky survivors who made it out alive from the rubble.

The two brothers said they could not explain their escape.

Chidi said, “There were nine of us who slept on the third floor. I cannot explain how we escaped.”

Workers fault Lekki Gardens on stoppage of construction

There was anger at the management of Lekki Gardens over its claim that it stopped construction works in January.

The company had in a statement said it had stopped contruction work on the building in January.
But some workers said they worked till the last minute before the collapse, adding that the construction firm was planning to roof the building before tragedy struck.

A worker, Chiboy Paul, said, “We still worked on Monday and the engineers were there to monitor what we were doing.”

Another worker, Charles Johnson, said Lekki Gardens was owing him and his boss N150,000.
He said, “They said we should keep working and they would pay.”

A resident, Temitope Idowu, explained that the company brought a new set of workers to the site on Monday.

She said the workers, mostly carpenters, who came from Ibadan, Oyo State, were supposed to handle the roofing of the collapsed building.

The workers also faulted the claim by Lekki Gardens that they were not supposed to stay in the building.

Toheeb Bolaji, an iron bender, said since they were expected to work day and night, it was only reasonable for the company to provide them with accommodation.

He added that Lekki Gardens was aware that they slept in the building.

The workers called for full compensation for families of those affected by the disaster.

Mother ill over missing child

A family from Ogun State said on Wednesday that it was looking for a relation, identified as Olayinka Oyeleye.

The 27-year-old was said to have left the Ajah area for Lekki Phase 1 Horizon sometime last week to work.

He was said to have slept in the building on the night and became trapped.

A Red Cross official told PUNCH Metro that his mother suddenly developed an undisclosed medical condition at the scene and they had to treat him.

He said, “She told us he was her first child and she had been looking for him. She developed a problem and we had to stabilise her before she was released.”

A relative, Adesanya Olusola, said, “We came from Ijebu Ode and we have been around since 3am. We know he was among the workers because one of his friends who escaped called us from the hospital to inform us.”

Another man, Vincent Paul, said he was looking for a friend, Sunday John.

Paul said the 29-year-old, who hails from Benue State, was married with a child, adding that he was seen last on Monday.

“I told him I was going for an outside job and he said he would be staying here to work. I returned on Tuesday to meet this place like this and I have not seen him since,” he added.

A Ghanaian, Emmanuel Semadou, said he was also searching for four of his Togolese friends who worked at the site.

LASEMA releases corpse to family

The corpse of Abbah was the first to be taken away by his family in the Lekki Gardens collapse incident.

Around 3.56pm, the body was given to a representative of the family, Igaji Mohammed, for burial.

The General Manager of LASEMA, Michael Akindele, said the agency had a mandate from the state government to bring out all the corpses.

He said, “Presently, we have recovered 34 corpses. We were able to rescue 13 alive and they are still at the Lagos Island General Hospital, while the dead have been deposited at the Lagos Mainland mortuary.

“As we speak, there are still three excavators that are working. We want to ensure that even if they are dead, we recover them intact.

“The state government is also working with the police to make all necessary arrangements for people to identify their family members, make necessary documentations and take them away for burial.”

The spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency, South West zone, Ibrahim Farinloye, said the search-and-rescue operation was ongoing, adding that challenges encountered the previous day had been surmounted.

“We are approaching the ground zero, so we are concluding the aspect of search and rescue.

“However, in emergency management, there is what we call body management and disaster victim identification. We are doing that now. There are just a few people saying they had yet to find their relatives, but maybe before we finish, we will see them,” he added.

Lagos orders directors to submit selves to police
The Lagos State Government has ordered the directors of Lekki Worldwide Estate Limited to submit themselves to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police within 24 hours or face immediate arrest.
In a statement on Wednesday by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, the government said the collapsed building was served contravention notice for exceeding the approved floors and thereafter sealed by the Lagos State Building Control Agency.

The government alleged that “in a brazen act of defiance and impunity, the owners of the building, Messrs Lekki Worldwide Estate Limited, the promoters of Lekki Gardens, criminally unsealed the property and continued building beyond the approved floors until the unfortunate incident of Tuesday which has led to loss of lives”.

It read in part, “The state government has consequently directed the suspension of work at the site and ordered the Lagos State Police Command to cordon it off as it is now a crime scene.

“The government also directed further integrity tests be carried out on every other construction project which has or is currently being handled by Messrs Lekki Worldwide Estate Limited in the interest of public safety.

“Furthermore, the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has strongly advised all directors of Lekki Worldwide Estate Limited to submit themselves to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police within the next 24 hours in their own interest or face immediate arrest.”

Developers shouldn’t be trusted with construction
Experts in building construction have said that developers should not be left on their own while constructing houses.
According to them, many of the developers are merely investors who are in business.

The President, Building Collapse Prevention Guild, Mr. Kunle Awobodu, stated that in the Lekki area where the collapse occurred, many of the developers were investors who built without appropriate monitoring from the state government.

He said, “The place where the building was located is a reclaimed land, although the result of the soil integrity test has not been released yet, it is obvious that there was no government agency monitoring the building construction.

“We are not talking of building approval here; we are talking about monitoring the activities of the builders. There is a post construction department under the Lagos State Building Control Agency, how many sites are they monitoring?”

The President, Nigerian Institute of Building, Mr. Tijani Shuaib, stated that developers should not be allowed to construct any building on their own except they had a professional builder.

Similarly, the President, Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers, Mr. Ore Fadayomi, noted that developers were the biggest problems in the building construction sector.

He said, “They are always in a hurry to make money and so do not often obey basic rules; some of them engage in construction they are not qualified to work on. Even when it is not properly done and a contactor says so, they ignore him.”

He said the government needed to do more of regulation and stop their officials from compromising.

The General Manager of LASBCA, Mr. Olusola Adeigbe, said his agency was investigating the incident.

Contractor in police net
The Lagos State Police Command says it has arrested one of the contractors handling the collapsed five-storeyed building.
The spokesperson for the police in Lagos, SP Dolapo Badmus, told one of our correspondents that the contractor, Odofin Taiwo, was picked up on Wednesday in Lagos.
She said, “He is culpable and under investigation. We are also on the trail of the owners of Lekki Gardens.”

Additional reports by: Sesan Olufowobi, Maureen Ihua-Maduenyi and Afeez Hanafi

PUNCH.

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The Management of Lekki Gardens has confirmed the unfortunate incident, Tuesday March 8th 2016 where a building collapsed at about 4a.m. in the morning, at one of its residential estate projects in Lekki. The building which was under construction was meant to house a number of apartment units.

Rescue work started immediately and so far 18 people have been reported dead and others injured. The exact cause of the incident is not known at this time. All of our incident response procedures have been initiated, our support services have been mobilized and relevant authorities have been advised. As regards the said building, investigations are being carried out to ascertain the cause of the collapse. In line with our usual safety standards, all sites are closed off by 6pm daily and it is mandatory that every worker leaves at that time.

The company is cooperating with the National Emergency Management Agency, Lagos State Government, Fire Service and Lagos State Police to speed up rescue efforts. Investigation is already underway to ascertain the identities of those affected as it is not company policy for site workers to take shelter in uncompleted buildings.

Lekki Gardens is a reputable residential property development company and has successfully completed and delivered over 6,000 units of houses across Lagos, Ogun, Rivers State and the Federal Capital territory, Abuja in the past 4 years and most of them already occupied. The Management and staff of Lekki Gardens sincerely sympathize with the families of those who lost their lives. The company will do all in its power to ensure that those injured are fully supported.

Signed Management, Lekki Gardens

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