Nigeria is notorious for building collapses and now the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) says most of the collapsed buildings were owned by influential people.
Speaking at a 3-day public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee to check the Serial Incidence of Building Collapse in Nigeria, President of COREN, Ali Kazeem, disclosed that most of the collapsed buildings in Lagos and Abuja were owned by powerful people in the society adding all attempts by COREN to bring them to book were futile.
Kazeem explained that the situation had continued unabated because the council does not have the power to arrest and prosecute owners of such buildings. He however said the council was working closely with the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and the Nigeria Police to ensure that owners of collapsed buildings did not go scot-free.
He revealed that part of measures to curb further cases of building collapse in the country was to amend the criminal law so as to sanction defaulters.
The president refuted claims that sub-standard cement was the cause of building collapses and added that cement manufacturers in Nigeria adhered to safety standard.
In Lagos State only, 130 buildings collapsed between 2007 and 2013. In a span of 3 years, more than 30 people have lost their lives to building collapses in Nigeria with the chairman of the ad-hoc committee, Yakubu Dogara, noting that between 1974 and 2010, an estimated 297 lives were lost to building collapses.
