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| Crowds of people both onlookers and first responders at the scene of the SCOAN Church Building Collapse in Lagos. Source: PREMIUM TIMES. |
There is no evidence that
the Synagogue of All Nations secured regulatory approval to increase the number
of floors on its collapsed building, an official has said.
The building was
initially a two-storey building used by the church as some form of guest house
for visitors. It was being raised to a five-storey building before it collapsed
on Friday killing at least 40 people as at Sunday evening.
PREMIUM TIMES reports that on Sunday, the Lagos
State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Olutoyin
Ayinde, told reporters at the scene that though investigation is still
on-going, there is no proof that the church obtained a permit to add additional
structures to existing ones.
“We have no proof that
there is a permit,” he said. “We’ve asked the engineering team to meet us and
for about two hours now no member of the engineering team has come because we
also have questions to ask.”
The commissioner also
hinted that the building was not professionally constructed.
“Even if the building
doesn’t have approval, it ought to be built professionally,” he said. “We’ve
asked for their team and we hope in the course of the week they’d get to us.”
Mr. Ayinde said there is no
plan to seal any building in the church premises until investigation into the
cause of the collapse has been concluded. He said he sympathized with those
that were injured or lost loved ones in the collapsed building and described
the event as sad.
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