The Lagos State Government on Thursday restated its decision to demolish buildings that fail its integrity test.
No fewer than 14 buildings were gutted by fire in Dosunmu Market on Tuesday, resulting to the loss of goods worth millions of Naira.
During his visit to the scene of the incident, the Lagos State Governor, Jide Sanwo-Olu said, “A lot of residential apartments have been turned to warehouses. I am saying without any iota of doubt that more buildings will go down.
“I just finished the assessment of a very unfortunate, but preventable disaster.
“Access was denied to the first responder to the fire for a couple of hours. This fire started more than 48 hours ago and is still alive.
“At the last count, we have about 14 houses that have been affected, and more may go down after the extensive test.”
Sanwo-Olu said the incident was a result of gross carelessness and could have been prevented.
According to the Lagos Territorial Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Authority, Ibrahim Farinloye, “The fire started from the Penthouse of one of the buildings where a man was carelessly refuelling a generator before it ignited the fire and escalated to other buildings. There were many generators in the building that further compounded the escalation.”
Sanwo-Olu added that the Dosunmu Market would be closed indefinitely, and that government would assist those affected by the fire to get back on their feet.
He reiterated that the government will bring down any property that does not conform to the rules and regulations of construction.
He said “We cannot allow anyone to put the lives and property of others and the environment at risk.
“There are more progressive things we ought to be doing than to be spending scarce resources on avoidable accidents.”
