Oyo Demolishes Dilapidated Building, Asks Builders on Integrity Checks

Sakin Babalola.

The Oyo State government at the weekend took proactive steps to execute a controlled demolition of a dilapidated collapsing building at the Ososami area, Ibadan in order to prevent further damage to neighbouring structures and loss of lives.

Addressing the press after the demolition exercise, the state Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Toye Arulogun  said that the government received distressed calls from the residents of the area who expressed fears on the potential calamity which was about to occur in the neighbourhood as the building was giving way in segments and stages.

Arulogun, who was with his counterpart from the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Titles, Mr. Bimbo Kolade and the Special Adviser to the Oyo State Governor on Environment and Physical Planning, Alhaji Waheed Gbadamosi, said, “we got distressed calls from residents of the Ososami area and upon the instruction of the Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, we immediately swung into action by  mobilizing all relevant machinery of government and agencies such as the fire service, police, civil defence, local government, building and  physical planning experts.“When we got there, the building was already on its way down tilted to one side and was collapsing intermittently.

“We explained the imminent danger posed by the dilapidated building to the occupants of the house and immediately evacuated them. Though, some of them were reluctant and they insisted on going back inside to the house to pick their properties.

“However, based on expert advice, the security agents on ground prevented them from going in to shield them from danger and preventthe loss of lives. As a matter of fact, the periphery of the house was cordoned off. When it became clear that the house had to be demolished in a controlled manner, we put a call to the owner of the house, Mr. Osunseyi in the United States, who consented to the demolition after he was told the status of the building. He also sent me a confirmatory
text message.

“The demolition exercise went well and no life was lost but some properties of the occupants could not be rescued.  Tempers rose, the occupants of the building got emotional, but we achieved the ultimate
with our proactive step by guarding against any loss of any life and calamity in the area,” Arulogun explained.

The government spokesman urged property owners, building professionals and contractors in the state to adhere to the standard building procedures, avoid cutting corners and uphold minimum quality standards when erecting structures emphasizing the need to conduct integrity test on old structures to avoid disasters in the state.

Present at the scene of the controlled demolition exercise were top government functionaries led by the Secretary to the State Government AlhajiIshmael Olalekan Alli.