Resident of Lagos State Sleeps with their eyes open, Can you imagine that ?
Posted by Metral
That day, a two-storey building of six flats known as M20 at Church Street, Oke-Afa, Isolo, Lagos caved in at about midnight and killed two sisters.
The girls -Toyin and Bukola – were the only children of a 68-year-old widow, Mrs. Adebisi Coker.
The residents fear that that can become their lot too if nothing is done.
Residents said the fear of uncertainty grew when structural and material tests carried out by professionals in the employment of the Lagos State Government certified the remaining buildings as defective and unsafe for habitation.
They said they go to bed every night with a prayer to God that they wake up hale and hearty the next morning.
Although some residents, especially landlords, vacated their flats immediately the remote cause of the structure's crash was made known, a number of families, especially tenants, still lived there, hoping that the 'evil day' would never come.
As a follow-up to its plan to make the buildings safer to inhabit, the state government recently sent a letter to the landlords and tenants of the affected area. It noted that the three most critical buildings would soon be demolished and rebuilt.
It therefore gave a two-week deadline for occupants to relocate, while facilitating their movement with N200,000 per flat.
The three worst affected buildings in the zone are M12, M16, and M23. According to the arrangement, other marked buildings in the zone will be evacuated on schedule.
It was learnt that another evacuation would be due in three months. The letter added that the state government might have to eject anyone still occupying the said quarters after the deadline which would elapse on Monday May 6, 2013.
A Memorandum of Understanding between the state and representatives of the landlords association said the state government would rebuild the blocks and return them to the owners under one year.
During Saturday PUNCH's visit to the area earlier in the week, the heap of rubbles from the November 20 collapsed building was seen there.
Mr. Samson Akerele, a resident who runs a restaurant with his wife, said since the building collapse, he has gone to bed every night, rejecting thoughts of death.
He, however, said that since the latest report from the state government categorically proved that living in the house was a risk, he had moved his wife and child to squat with a friend, while he stayed around to attend to the business.
Akerele, a tenant said, "Apart from the initial structural tests that proved that buildings in this zone were defective, a team from the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency and Lagos State Building Control Agency returned in February, 2013 to do material tests to ascertain the cause of the collapse of M20. "They found that the materials used to construct the buildings were substandard; they certified the buildings unfit to live in and recommended that they be demolished.
"Their findings showed that existing buildings may eventually collapse. I have gone to collect the N200,000 and we will move out our remaining personal effects soon as directed by the state government. Painfully though, we can only afford a smaller apartment with the money the government is offering but we are grateful for their foresight and concern."
Another resident, Baba Peju, said it baffled him that the older buildings in the estate constructed under a former Lagos State governor, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, are still very fit and strong, while those constructed in the year 2000 and more recently are already giving way.
He said he was disappointed that the houses sold to them for millions of naira have now become death traps.
He queried the essence of the annual maintenance fee paid by landlords to the Lagos State Property Development Corporation for the purpose of maintaining the buildings. He alleged that they can't see what the money is being used for.
Baba Peju noted that there had been uncertainty over who should renovate the buildings currently being managed by the state building control agency.
He said, "This is a serious indictment on the state government. These blocks contain six flats each with one toilet and bathroom facility, yet someone who resold his own two years ago sold it at N4m. Things are so bad.
"There is a particular building in this zone that was built by the same government agency only two years ago and it is also on the list of those to be demolished because of the alleged use of substandard building materials.
"The landlords paid millions to buy these flats and many of them are retirees. When you enter some rooms in the houses, you will notice serious cracks on the walls."
A female resident, who pleaded anonymity, said, "We are all living in fear, but we trust God to preserve our lives. My own block is not part of the three worst hit buildings, but I would have loved to leave before the state government is ready to facilitate the scheduled relocation, it is just that there is no money. Getting a new apartment is a serious matter in Lagos. The discomfort is also undesirable but we must consider safety first."
Meanwhile, the Chairman of residents association in the zone, Mr. Benson Nwabuikwu, said that they were grateful for the gesture of the government.
However, he called on the government to stick to its arrangement which would ensure that all residents were eventually relocated to safer havens.
He said that he and his family members sleep with one eye closed every night and get excited when they wake up the next morning.
He said, "We know that God being with us, no evil shall befall us while we are waiting to be relocated. We pray the government keeps to its promise just as it is doing for the people in the first set of the arrangement.
"We were at their office on Monday to sign the MoU on the agreement. We appreciate the fact that all existing tenants of the three critical buildings have been given the mobilisation sum, which is N200,000. You know that about 85 per cent of residents in this estate are retirees who have no job. So we are counting on the state government to rebuild the blocks in batches as it has scheduled.
"It is unfortunate that we bought a bad product from the state government. But it is comforting to see that government is responding in our favour."
He said the letter to the residents and landlords by LASEMA had advised that no resident should be left in the said buildings by the expiratio of the deadline or they will face the consequences of their action.
There were 16 blocks of two-storey building in the zone before M20 collapsed. However, all the remaining 15 were marked as distressed buildings.
But contrary to claims by some residents, the Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Bosun Jeje, had told Saturday PUNCH that "the buildings were inspected frequently by our engineers."
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