By Kingsley Adegboye

Almost one month after a Guest House at Synagogue Church of All Nations in Ikotun area of Lagos metropolis collapsed, killing over 115 persons and permanently disabling many others, reactions have continued to trail the ugly incident.

TB Joshua-Synagogue Church

Last week, the Nigerian Institute of building, NIOB, joined the league of those calling for a probe to find out what led to the disaster.

Specifically, the builders want to know who handled the building production management of the guest house. They also want to know if there was any approval and building documents for raising the structure to six floors from the original two floors that was approved.

The institute also wants to know if there was a building redevelopment permit for the collapsed structure as well as the identities of   professionals commissioned to guarantee the construction activities on site. Other posers raised by the builders include whether   documents such as project quality management plan, construction methodology, project health and safety plan, buildability and maintainability report and construction programme to guarantee the safety of the project were obtained.

The president of NIOB, Mr. Tunde Lasabi, who spoke on behalf of his institute, noted that these posers had become pertinent in order to ascertain who would be held responsible for the collapse.

Lasabi who said the building had progressed from the said original two floors to six floors, further asked if there was any report of contravention or stop work order from any agency of government before the collapse. He wondered whether the relevant agencies did not notice the construction until the collapse.

Lisabi disclosed that in conjunction with the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria, CORBON, his Institute has set up an investigative committee to find out the remote cause of the Synagogue building collapse.

The committee which he heads has   the vice chairman of CORBON, Martins Dada and a Mr. V. O. Oyenuga, a council member of CORBON and a former president of the Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers are members.

The NIOB boss   said the report of the committee will be made public as soon as it is ready. He stated that over the years, the incidents of building collapse have remained a common phenomenon in many parts of Nigeria.  “Repeatedly, we have received scary news of workers and residents trapped in debris of collapsed buildings, this has been quite rampant. Many have died while a good number of those that survived are left without limbs. Building collapse, though a common phenomenon all over the world is more rampant and devastating in the developing countries. The incidents of building failures and collapses have become major issues of concern to us in the building profession because of their implications on the development of this nation.

“The frequencies of occurrences and the magnitude of losses in terms of lives and property are very alarming. Building collapse no doubt has become a serious problem in Nigeria in view of what happened on Friday September 12, 2014. “he said.