Lagos Marks 17 ‘Distressed’ Buildings For Demolition At Alaba Market

• The Lagos government has recently been on an aggressive mission to rid the state of defective buildings.

• The mission was intensified following multiple cases of building collapse in parts of the state in recent months.

• The government has taken its efforts to the popular Alaba market.

Eko Hot Blog reports that the Lagos State Government has announced that it will demolish 17 “distressed” buildings being used for commercial purposes within the Alaba International Market in the Ojo LGA of the state.

Gbolahan Oki, general manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), announced the planned demolition during an assessment visit to the market, on Friday.

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According to Oki, the visit offered the agency the opportunity to issue final warnings to occupants of the buildings marked for demolition.

A statement by Adetayo Akitoye-Asagba, LASBCA’s assistant director of public affairs, quoted the general manager as saying that some of the buildings had been marked with quit notice since 2016.

Oki added that occupants usually harass officials of the agency whenever they want to carry out their duties.

“These buildings marked within this Alaba international market would have been included in the list of 349 distressed buildings earlier published in different national newspapers this year,” he said.

“But because the occupants were always harassing our officers, it was impossible to capture the details of the structures and include them in the publication.

“What we have done now is a joint exercise carried out by both the Lagos Task Force officers and the demolition gang of Lagos State Building Control Agency. The buildings will be demolished.

“We know that this area is a commercial centre and one of the busiest markets in Lagos state.

“We cannot fold our arms and allow irregularities to continue to thrive in the market where lives of innocent persons would be put at risk because of the failure of a few sets of individuals who have refused to do the needful.”

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In March, the Lagos government released a publication showing the locations of 349 “distressed” buildings in the state.

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