A multi-storey building developed by Femi Osibona earlier today collapsed in the high brow Ikoyi area of Lagos State.
UPDATE: Man Escapes Death By ”Jumping Off’ 21-Storey Building That Collapsed In Ikoyi [Photos]
Kanyi Daily News earlier today reported that a 21 storey building under construction collapsed at Gerald street in Ikoyi, Lagos around 2pm.
Billionaire property developer Femi Osibona, popularly known as Four Score, along with his friend Wale Bob, aides, police escorts and construction workers were in the building when it collapsed.
UPDATE: Femi Osibona Biography: See The Property Developer behind the collapsed 21 storey building in Ikoyi
The building collapse is happening 21 months after the structural engineer withdrew his services because Femi Osibona reportedly declined on following due process.
According to an eyewitness, few minutes before the building collapsed, one side of the pillars broke and made a loud noise as the whole building came down.
Meanwhile, the cause of the collapse has not been ascertained.
Funny enough, the building was sealed by the Lagos State Government last year July to “prevent another calamity”. Unfortunately, it appears the building was later unsealed and construction continued until it collapsed today, November 1st, 2021.
At the time, a source was quoted as saying that the State Government took the action to seal the building in order to ensure that what happened with Lekki Gardens Estate when its on-going six-storey building collapsed on March 8, 2016 would not be witnessed again in the state.
READ: Death toll rises to 18 in Lekki Gardens 5 Story building collapse [PHOTOS]
The source said:
“It is unheard of that the owners of the Ikoyi project in question would embark on such a capital intensive project without obtaining required approvals for a project as massive as that.
“Gone are the days of negligence on the part of the government when people flout the law. Sealing up the project is law taking its due course.
“The owners of this project have shown themselves to be defiant and obstinate, in that the state ministry of Land and Physical Planning had been calling on them, without (them) paying attention to what the ministry had been calling their attention to.
“It does not benefit the state to stop economically viable projects like the project on Gerrard Road in Ikoyi, but the responsibility falls on the government that all rules and regulations guiding such buildings are strictly adhered to.
“What the government has done is to halt further construction with a view to assessing and evaluating the extent to which the builders had adhered to the building code. The state will take it up from there.
“The government will not fold its arm and watch people behave recklessly without order and accountability. We are talking about people’s lives here. The state will no longer tolerate such attitude from anybody no matter how highly placed they may be.”
UPDATE 1: Man Escapes Death By ‘Jumping Off’ 21-Storey Building That Collapsed In Ikoyi [Photos]
Rescue Operations are currently going on at the construction site.
Watch the video below, viewers discretion is advised.
UPDATE 2: Femi Osibano has been confirmed dead.
READ: Femi Osibona Biography: See The Property Developer behind the collapsed 21 storey building in Ikoyi