By Evelyn Usman,  Bose Adelaja and Deola Adenuga

August 1, 2012 may have come and gone, but it left in its trail wanton destruction of properties and outright displacement of families resident in a three-storey building which collapsed  at 3, Anikantamo, Adeniji Adele area of Lagos. The affected building, which used to house about 30 families, is today demolished.

When Sunday Vanguard visited the site at the weekend, the displaced families were seen trying to sort out the remains of their  properties from the rubbles. But, unfortunately, most of them could not salvage much.  Many of the victims, bemoaned  their losses while others placed their hands on their heads and cast a blank stare at everyone, apparently thinking of how to start life all over again.

While this was going on, some residents of the area blamed occupants of the affected building for failing to take the right step until the collapse happened. Everything, according to one of the residents, was wrong with the building. For instance, it was discovered to be sandwiched between two buildings; a four -storey to the left and three -storey to the right,thereby obstructing ventilation into the building.

As a result,  the apartments in the house were always dark prompting the residents to always put the lights on. Even when there was power failure, the occupants reportedly either used candles or lamps during the day and at night. And anytime they walked through the staircase, the residents reportedly did so with the aid of torch lights and mobile phone lights, failure which they could stumble.

Emergency agencies working at the site

Although some of the occupants said they were planning to pack out of the building at the expiration of their rent, that was never to be as their worst fears were confirmed on Wednesday.

But for providence, the number of the dead and injured would have been high had most of them not left for their respective places of work when the building went down. Had it occurred  on a weekend, when most of them usually stay indoors,  several lives would have no doubt  perished. Whereas the occupants  expressed gratitude to God that no life was lost, at the same time they lamented that they lost every thing they have labored for.

One of the victims, who identified herself simply as Mama Basira, said: “I have lived here for some years now. When we were made to understand that the house had cracks on it, I started looking for accommodation. Already I have seen one and was contemplating paying on Friday (last week) when the incident occurred on Wednesday. My challenge now is that I really do not know where to go from here. Even though I am grateful to have survived, I have lost all,including the money I wanted to use to pay for the accommodation I saw.”

Another victim, Mama Alimo, placed her palms on her chin and shook her head intermittently. When approached, she said she was going about her daily sales at Idumota market when news of a collapsed building filtered in. “ I did not know  it was our building because we were only told it happened around Adeniji Adele. I was contacted on the phone by a relatives and when I rushed there, I saw the house I slept in the previous night in rubbles. My relative who live around got here before me but could not salvage anything”.

Asked if she was aware of the poor condition of the building, she replied, “My sister, I have already paid before I realised it and was waiting for my rent to expire. Many of us were making efforts to rent another accommodation.”

As for Mama Ishola, she kept ransacking some of the properties that were salvaged from the debris, apparently looking for those which belonged to her family. But then, she was not composed as she kept talking to herself. At a point, she exclaimed, “Aye mi o…. ( Ah, my life!) where do I start from now? I have never prayed for a tragedy like this to befall me in my life time. Now , I am left without clothes, money and even a roof over my head.  Where do I go from here?”

Unable to control his emotion, one of the victims simply identified as Mr. Ben, burst into tears, lamenting that he had to pass the night at the site, as he had no relative around. At that point, some of them began to ask about the whereabouts of their landlord, whom they identified as Baba Lukmon.

Infact, one of them could who could not control his anger threatened to descend on him should he appear there. ‘’If one has witnessed the anger of Sango, he will never dear to offend him”, the visibly angry tenant said.

A mild drama unfolded at the collapsed building site when some of the tenants said renovation had begun before the building collapsed, a statement that sparked off an argument, with some saying  bricklayers were only brought the day the incident occurred. But the  landlord has reportedly  gone underground since the incident occurred.