Though it's owner is no more, Fourscore Homes Ltd – the firm developing the 21-storey building that collapsed on Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, on November 1, 2021— will face criminal prosecution. This is part of the White Paper on the incident that claimed about 50 people lost their lives.
The remaining two structures being simultaneously constructed in the vicinity are to be demolished because they failed structural integrity tests. The owner of the company, Mr. Femi Osibona died when the building came down.
Also recommended to face administrative disciplinary panel are all government officials involved in granting approval to the developer in 2019. The White Paper was prepared by the Lagos State government on the report submitted to it by the panel that probed the building collapse.
According to the White Paper, the remaining high-rise buildings will be pulled down through controlled demolition. Twenty-six out of the 28 recommendations contained in the Report were accepted by the government.
Submitting the report on January 5, the panel chairman Mr. Toyin Ayinde, a town planner, blamed the collapse on the erosion of professional ethics and disregard for due diligence. In the course of their investigations, the panel members visited the project site for a general assessment; coordinated activities of the consultants who conducted tests on the site and reviewed documents from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)
They also conducted interviews; interrogated 91 persons; collected 21 memoranda and accessed the remaining buildings being developed by the late Osibona.
-Additional information from The Nation.