Collapsed building: Area boys hurl stones at Lagos LG chairman

The Chairman, Lagos Island Local Government, Mr. Wasiu Eshinlokun, on Thursday narrowly escaped being lynched by street urchins, otherwise known as area boys, when he visited the site of a collapsed building in Idumota, Lagos.

The area boys, who accused the chairman of being insensitive to the plights of the victims and volunteers involved in their rescue, hurled stones at Eshilokun.

The area boys, upon sighting Eshilokun, who came in company with other officials of the local government to the site, rained unprintable words on him, saying the visit was belated and that no concrete steps had been taken to rescue victims believed to have been trapped in the rubble.

They also said the LG ought to have demolished some shops in the vicinity of the collapsed building, which many people believed was impeding rescue efforts. The chairman hurriedly left the scene but later came back with more security operatives. He, however, promised to demolish the shops.

When our correspondent approached him for his response, Eshinlokun, said, “I am bereaved. We have rescued about 40 victims. I cannot ascertain the number of victims still trapped in the debris. We have been looking for a machine that can detect if anyone is still alive beneath the debris but we are yet to find one.”

A similar scenario nearly repeated itself when the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Aderemi Ibirogba, got to the scene with Eshinlokun, who came for the third time. Both the commissioner and the local government chairman had to leave the premises as tension was rising.

Ibirogba, however, declined comments when our correspondent approached him several streets away from the site, where he boarded a space bus with the inscription Ministry of Information and Strategy.

One of the area boys, who declined to give his names, said the bulldozers that needed to facilitate the rescue could not access the site because the 15 lock-up shops constructed by the council blocked their way. He added that the chairman was reluctant to demolish the shops to make way for the bulldozers.

“They are not being fair to us at all. We have been working here for three days, the government has not shown any interest to assist. They brought bulldozers but they could not come near the site. The local government has refused to demolish the shops because of the money they are making,” he said.

A four-storey building at 4, Mogaji Street, around midnight on Tuesday collapsed, while about eight were feared dead and about 35 injured.

As at Thursday afternoon when our correspondent left the scene, the death toll, according to rescue volunteers, had risen to 18, while about 40 persons had been rescued with various degrees of injuries. Some sympathisers, who spoke to our correspondent on Thursday, said persons believed to have been trapped in the rubble made phone contacts with their friends and relatives through text messages.

Hundreds of people were at the scene using sledge hammers, diggers and shovels to dig the rubble and evacuating household items and wares belonging to the occupants of the building.

A man, who spoke to our correspondent but preferred to be anonymous, said, “About 18 people have died. Yet, the government did not deem it fit to give more helping hands. I am a driver and I had to leave my job to work here, just to bring them (the victims) out.”

A member of the Red Cross Society, who did not want his name in prints, said more lives could have been saved if there were enough rescue tools to work with. “These chainsaws can only do little. We need bigger and more efficient tools like excavators and bulldozers, so that we can get to the trapped victims before they die. It is three days now,” he said.

Another man, who identified himself simply as Ade said, “As you can see, we are just using sledge hammers to break the bricks and ordinary chainsaw to cut the iron rods. It was a three-storey building and we just got to the first floor. What we need here is a bulldozer but that is not forthcoming.”

Officials of the Lagos State Physical Planning and Development Authority, led by the Head of Demolition, Mr. Yomi Whesu, were in charge of evacuating the trapped victims.

Officials of the Red Cross Society; a non-governmental organisation, Nigeria Aid Group; Nigeria Police Force, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency; and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were also at the site.

SOURCE: PUNCH