Lagos demolishes former AC secretariat

 A four storey-building at No. 6, Campbell Street, Lagos Island, that was used as secretariat of the defunct  Action Congress (AC) was late last week demolished by the Lagos State government. The AC morphed into the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) which later merged with other parties to form the presently ruling All Progressives Congress […]

 A four storey-building at No. 6, Campbell Street, Lagos Island, that was used as secretariat of the defunct  Action Congress (AC) was late last week demolished by the Lagos State government. The AC morphed into the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) which later merged with other parties to form the presently ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The demolished building was vacated 15 years ago when the residents discovered cracks on its wall. It was owned by the founder of the popular Premier Lotto and incumbent Asoju Oba of Lagos, Chief Kensington Adebutu, otherwise known as Baba Ijebu.
Eko Trust gathered that Adebutu bought the building a few years ago but was still deliberating with his staff on how to judiciously use it.
It was also gathered that the building had been sealed twice by the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) to allow for Structural Stability Test (SST), before it was finally demolished manually on Thursday.
Speaking with journalists after the demolition, LASBCA Director of Enforcement, Mr. Felix Olowojoba who represented the General Manager, Mr Olusola Adeigbe at the scene, said that the responsibility of the agency was to monitor buildings in the state and identify any distressed building.
 “We demolish buildings that have over 90 percent of likelihood of collapsing,” he stated.
He added: “When we detect a building that is defective and could collapse any moment, it is our responsibility to ensure that such building does not cave in. We demolish to avoid loss of life.
“On this particular building that we have just demolished, over the years, we have had reports of the falling of its concrete. We recommended that the building should undergo Structural Stability Test to assist LASBCA to ascertain its structural integrity. The report that came out was not favorable. The report showed that the building was overburdened and distressed.

“We would not have demolished it if the distress level was permissible. But we had to demolish it as it could cave in any moment.”

On the mode of demolition, Olowojoba explained that the agency carried out manual demolition.

In his words: “If we want to demolish any building, we either use manual method or mechanised method. For this particular building, due to the number of buildings beside it, we decided to use manual. After it must have been demolished to a level that it could not affect the buildings beside it, then we will embark on mechanised demolition.”