By Olusegun Olanrewaju
With the death toll now put at no fewer than 46, the Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos 21-storey building collapse may be raising more questions now begging for answers.
Two more bodies, the authorities say, were pulled out of the rubble yesterday.
Sympathisers and stakeholders are still thronging the site of the heavy crash, but investigations show that the regulatory authorities may have performed below par to avert the disaster.
A high-powered delegation from the military was at the incident site yesterday, apparently to survey the circumstances that led to the collapse.
A source familiar with the construction industry who craved anonymity told ThisNigeria yesterday at Gerard Road that the fault with the collapsed structure could have rested on the ‘fact’ that it was still under construction as a ‘skeleton building’.
Experts say, ordinarily, there is nothing wrong about ‘skeletal frames’ being used to build high-rise properties.
But they advise that such structural items of steel have to be of high strength to weight ratio, to make them more durable.
In the Gerard Road incident, it is said that there had been no real proper framing and casting, as used in steel beam constructions that raise life expectancy than construction materials such as wood, which rots faster.
“The chemical composition of steel beams used in Steel Beam Constructions makes them resistant to corrosion. It prevents them from causing internal damage that may otherwise affect the durability of the structure,” the experts informed.
But the source told our correspondent yesterday: “Here, there is no real framing and casting done, even in the ordinary sense.
“It was just a tall building without proper framing. In the past, buildings can’t crash like that because they had to be properly framed.
“But look at the skeleton iron rods used in the construction. And the ground upon which the building rested was muddy,” he said.
Meanwhile, questions are being raised on the circumstances surrounding the acquisition of the 21-storey structure in the first place.
“the man they say was the property owner (the late Femi Osibona) was not the original builder. He bought it from somebody,” the source further offered.
He added: “They keep propping the thing up, without proper casting until it reached 21-storey. The other one (building) you are looking at standing over there nearby is 14-storey high. They are all not properly cast.”
Also, the collapsed building is said to be one of the many items of property the deceased developer, who died in the incident, was firming up.
Neighbours in the yard are still thanking God for redeeming them from untimely death. They said they had no inkling that disaster was waiting in the wings to stalk them on that fateful date of November 1, 2021.
“One man came over to eat and rest before the crash. He could not believe his luck as the building crashed later.”
Families and onlookers are unhappy that, apart from the tendency that the building had been erected with substandard materials like rods and pillars for a structure of such ‘ground-breaking’ magnitude, other aspects of rescue work had ebbed.
Investigations also show that in the entire Ikoyi neighbourhood (as against the localisation of the incident to Gerard Road incident), residents are now apprehensive of living in high-rise buildings.
“Sleeping at night is dreary, and no one is sure of what will happen, and where,” a housewife offered.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has promised proper trauma management procedures for victims and their families.
E choke for Nigeria by Charles Dickson
He said a psychological support corps had been emplaced to provide social counselling and additional information on victims.
The governor stressed, on the second day of his visit to the incident site on Tuesday that the psycho-social corps would be providing water and pumping oxygen to the basement of the collapsed structure through pipes, to assist the trapped, at intermittent intervals.
