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Lagos elders will insist on investigation of Ikoyi collapsed building – Bode George

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ATIKU: Bode George goes spiritual, says ‘He that’s without sin should cast the first stone’

A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, said on Tuesday elders in Lagos State would resist any attempt by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to sweep investigations into the collapsed 21-storey building in the state under the carpet.

George, who disclosed this during a chat with journalists at his residence in the Ikoyi area of the state, said his house was shaken to its foundation when the building collapsed.

He decried the proliferation of skyscrapers in the high-brow area.

According to him, the land where the skyscrapers were built was the former office of the now moribund Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL).

The politician insisted that the investigations must reveal to Nigerians who sold the land in the area to developers.

He said: “To me, when the British were here and were living in Ikoyi, hardly could you find any house that was more than two or three-storey building. This was because the whole of this Ikoyi was just sand-filled. Suddenly, now you find every area in Ikoyi with skyscrapers and high-rise buildings.

“Apart from structural damage, what about the social amenities that will be available to such properties? If you locate three skyscrapers in that closet there, where will those living there get the amenities needed to support them? Electricity, water, general security, and so on?

“These so-called developers don’t consider all these factors. All they care about is that it is an investment.

“We must find out who is behind these high-rise buildings. We the elders in Lagos will not allow Governor Sanwo-Olu to sweep this under the carpet because it may be the darkest period of his administration.

“The General Manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, Gbolahan Oki, said they gave approval for 15 floors but the Deputy Governor now came and said they gave approval for 21-storey.

“There must be a judicial and technical committee to investigate who owns the land and who is this developer. It is arrant nonsense. My house was badly shaken when the building collapsed. I thought it was an earthquake.”

At least 44 persons were confirmed dead and 15 others rescued from the debris of the high-rise building that collapsed at Gerard Road, Ikoyi, last Monday.

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