The Chairman of Building Collapse Prevention Guild, Engr. Eddy Atumonyogo said the seven-storey building that collapsed recently in Lagos does not have building permit.
He made this revelation in a Television programme, Sunrise Daily on Channels today.
Engr. Atumonyogo who is the past President of Nigerian Institution of Structure Engineers, NISE disclosed that the owner of the collapsed building actually went to the site with his own policemen when the regulatory body wanted to enforce the stop-order.
He further revealed that the Lagos state government does not have enough manpower to tackle the menace of building collapse. According to him, “Out of about 55,000 construction works ongoing now, no professionals are involved in monitoring building sites. They have been dragging their feet because they don’t have the manpower even when we want to help.”
Engr. Eddy said the reason why buildings continue to collapse is because developers prefer to patronize quacks; because they don’t want to pay professionals. He however advised that even if somebody wants to buy a building, he should get a structural engineer to check the soil in the area.
He also said, “We have made some proposals to Lagos state to appoint external professionals to review designs; collaborate with the professionals and empower them with law; to ensure that they don’t compromise with the authorities and also ensure that they don’t allow substandard materials.”
Engr. Atumonyogo concluded by saying “Since buildings have been collapsing, nobody has been prosecuted and nobody has gone to jail and that means that will continue to encourage more quacks in the industry.

Also speaking, Fellow of the Nigerian Institution of Structure Engineers, NISE, Engr. Peter Igbinijesu said there is no consistency in enforcement and there has been total negligence on the parts of enforcement agents.
He advised that those responsible for building collapse should be held and punished.
On the collapse in Kubwa recently, Engr. Igbinijesu revealed that what the structure was meant for was not what they are using it for. “There are procedures, if conversion wants to take place, you must consult an expert. The approving authorities always rely on your submission and believing that the designers are professionals.
“As professionals, there is little we can do. We have been meeting on our own to find lasting solution. As structural engineers, we have made proposals. We have advised that we should practice in our areas of specialization because some are always delving into areas they don’t know,” the Fellow of Nigeria Society of Engineers said.
He concluded by saying, “We have always advised the regulatory bodies to contact us to help out whenever they have challenges because we know that they don’t have enough professionals working with them.
Recalled that recently, building collapses happened in Ikoyi, Kubwa, Kano and just two days ago in Lagos.