Power outage stalls Coroner inquest into collapsed 21 storey building

IKEJA, Lagos, Nigeria – Activities at the Coroner inquest sitting in Ikeja investigating the circumstances that led to the November  1 collapse of a 21-storey high-rise building in Lagos was stalled earlier today following power outage.

Mr Femi Osibona, the contractor of the project and Managing Director of Fourscore Heights Ltd was among the 46 persons that died when the structure went down in rubbles.

Thursday’s proceedings was in continuation of the testimony of Mr Muritala Olawale, a structural  engineer and the Managing Director of Prowess Engineering Nigeria Ltd.

When proceedings commenced at 9.12am, the Coroner Mr Oyetade Komolafe suggested that proceedings should be  suspended till another date. The coroner noted that the microphones in the courtroom and the equipment used to record the proceedings were not working due to lack of electricity.

“You will not be able to hear me and we will also be unable to hear the witness,” Komolafe said. Counsel for all interested parties and the coroner came to an agreement that proceedings should be adjourned until Jan. 12 and 13 2022 for the continuation of Olawale’s evidence.

The counsel present in court were; Mr Akin George, representing the Lagos State Government and Mr A.S Odugbemi representing the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA).

Other counsel are – Mr O.M Adeosun for Prowess Engineering Nigeria Ltd and Mr Yusuf Laman  from the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).

The Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON), Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and Architect Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) had representatives at the inquest.

NAN reports that Olawale, had on Dec. 15 told the coroner inquest that he rendered structural consultancy services to the late Osibona and the initial brief his firm received was for three blocks of four-storey buildings.

He said that Osibona kept revising the brief by adding more floors to the buildings and that his team were only responsible for the first four floors of 21-storey Block B which collapsed.

Olawale told the inquest that  Osibona was the contractor/builder of the project and was also charge of getting all government approvals for the high-rises.

“I never saw the approved architectural drawings, mechanical drawings and electronic drawings for the project,” he said.

The structural engineer noted that when he realised that standard construction procedures were not being observed on the site, his company withdrew their services to Osibona via a letter dated Feb. 20, 2020.