November 1st, 2021 started on a seemingly normal note for most residents in the upmarket neighborhood of Ikoyi in Lagos. Home to the rich and famous, nothing prepared residents for what was about to go down, literally. A high-rise block of luxury flats under construction on Gerrard Road collapsed. As at the time of writing, 42 persons have been confirmed dead. May they find peace!
However, as the authorities commence investigations into the remote and proximate causes of the collapse, there are pertinent questions to ask – What triggered the tragic collapse?
This is an almost crack-brained question, as there are different accounts from persons in the neighbourhoods that there was a loud explosion and tremors that subsequently shook other buildings.
As ludicrous a question that this may seem, it is deserving of further interrogation as there are gaps in the account being mainstreamed by the media.
In an article on the back page of ThisDay Newspapers on Saturday, 6th November, 20201, Mr. Dele Momodu who lives on Mosley Road (about 1.8 km or a 21-minute walk from Gerrard Road) recollects that at the material time of the collapse, he heard an explosive sound as well as felt tremors at his own home. In Dele Momodu’s piece, he recounts his experience and that of his neighbours to wit “I was getting ready to go out when a massive explosion, like a fiendish hurricane raised to the power of thousands, suddenly occurred. This evil explosion was so thunderous that it shook our six-storey building to its foundation and seemed to reverberate forever.”
Implicit in Mr. Momodu’s account is the possibility of an explosive that was detonated in the premises for sinister reasons. The jury is still out on this issue.
The second question is – Why did the building collapse into one single methodical pile of slabs?
This leads to another enquiry regarding the neat and controlled way the building fell. Why did the building not crumble in the areas of weakness? Why was there not a single column left standing? How is it possible that the building did not give way in an area of weakness? Why was the pile one single, neat and clean pile? Unlike structurally defective collapses in which there would be lateral plummeting to the side, especially given the height of the building (21 floors), this building fell in a rather controlled way. It literally looked like it imploded and fell on itself with no known or visible impact on the proximate buildings or spaces around it.
According to renowned demolition experts, Hughes & Salvidge UK, controlled demolition refers to the demolition of a building or structure by means of explosives to ensure the strategic collapse of a building, placing explosive materials in pre-determined, detailed sequence and detonating them at a pre-arranged time. Explaining further, there is a type of demolition that occurs by implosion where it falls into its footprints. In this case, the blasters proceed with an implosion, demolishing the building so that it collapses straight down into its own footprint (the total area at the base of the building).
The foregoing explanation perhaps ties into Mr. Momodu’s suspicion that what occurred was a controlled demolition as opposed to a defect triggered collapse.
Another question that came to kind is – Why did the building collapse?
If the building did not collapse in the ‘typical’ manner when there are structural failures, or weakened reinforcements, then the question of why it collapsed is inevitable. Could there have been a pecuniary motive for sabotage?
According to nigeriapropertycentre.com, the price of land in prime Ikoyi where this property lies is approximately N1.1m per square metre. It means that if the property sits on 4,000 square metres, the land alone would be worth approximately N4.4 billion. But that is just the beginning, because an investment in high rises of this magnitude would yield several billions more. There are indications making the rounds that there was a dispute regarding the land before the courts. It is reported that the eventual sale to Fourscore Homes Limited was by virtue of a consent judgment and terms of settlement where the disputing parties agreed to jointly sell to Fourscore and split the proceeds. This did not go down well with some powers that be, who might have preferred a government-authorised allocation where they would have been the ultimate beneficiaries.
As things stand, this theory is given credence when the position of the Lagos State Building Control Agency Regulations 2019 of the Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning Law Cap U2, is taken into account. Regulation 25(4) states that:
“Any structure which collapses due to negligence on the part of the developer of the property, shall be sealed off and forfeited to the State Government after due investigation and publication of the notice of forfeiture in the State Official Gazette”
Could Regulation 25(4) above be an indication of motive in collapsing the building?
The controlling term is “negligence” because the speed with which there was an attempt to hang the developer before any investigation, leaves a lot to be desired. This would be addressed in the next segment.
The other question is – Why was there a carefully orchestrated media campaign that unfolded simultaneously with the collapse? Three curious incidents come to the fore for analysis on this score.
First, the alleged letter written by Prowess Engineering Limited withdrawing engineering consulting services from the project was leaked within one hour of the incident on November 1st, 2021. The letter went viral on the internet and on WhatsApp groups. A Channels TV Report of November 3rd, 2020 investigating the viral letter has since shown that the telephone numbers and the address on this letter are both unreachable and fictitious. The report also asked the vital question of who leaked this letter to the media. This contemporaneous leakage to the media might be a trail for the investigators to follow in the path for the search for truth. Relevant questions are: whether this letter was actually written or forged? Can the company provide any statements in denial or support of the alleged contents of that letter?
Secondly, the almost spontaneous allusion to ownership of the property by the Vice President. This claim was fortified by a now-discredited report in Sahara Reporters of November 4th, 2021 that Prof. Yemi Osinbajo had bought the property from Industrial magnate and owner of Elizade Industries, Chief Ade-Ojo. Both Chief Ade-Ojo and the VP have since refuted these allegations and are undertaking legal action against the publishers. What is curious is how quickly this narrative was being peddled by a well-designed online syndication effort. This undoubtedly adds a political undertone to this issue, especially since some of the online news sites have identified efforts from certain quarters nudging the syndication and publication of the offensive material from Sahara Reporters. A certain federal legislator who hails from Kogi State has been identified as being behind the syndication effort. Are the commercial and political motives interwoven and related?
Thirdly, it was quite befuddling that within two hours of the collapse, there was another viral video depicting the developer Mr. Femi Osibona, as a religious bigot. Quite contrary to the Islamic tenet of not speaking ill of the dead. A certain Youruba Muslim, was with the speed of light, granted wide media coverage, speaking negatively of Mr . Osibona as denying him of an employment opportunity. He claimed that he had just been interviewed and rejected and left the building less than an hour before it collapsed! Such a fantastic, but rather curious account. If such a miraculous and close shave truly occurred, his account and perspective are the most unlikely natural response or inclination, especially in the immediately ensuing aftermath of such a colossal tragedy. If anything, should he have not been grateful that he escaped a near death experience? Recall that 2 weeks earlier, MURIC had advanced a position that only a South West Muslim was acceptable as a presidential candidate because South West Muslims have long suffered discrimination.
The question to be asked is how and why the obvious politically motivated messaging of religious discrimination connects with the collapsed building? Against the backdrop of a lack of truth in this message given that from the list of survivors released by the Lagos State Government, there were Muslim workers (Ndajor Ahmed, Yunusa Abubakar, Ajiboye Habib, Ahmed Kenleku, Shola Bade Nurudeen, Waliu Lateef). There were Christians too. Sadly, Zainab Sanni was among the dead. Even the signatory of the alleged letter from the Engineering company, is Muslim, yet you have a media campaign that has one Muslim, who is a Professor, looking at the Ikoyi tragedy from a prism of casual bigotry against Yoruba Muslims.
In a state where Christians and Muslims has governed for 16 years, and members of both faiths live in harmony, this was a politically designed message to elicit acrimony geared towards achieving a predetermined objective. Again, the question needs to be asked, who seeks to benefit politically and financially from this ill-designed scheme? And what is the underlying objective and proposed benefit?
All things considered, the investigation into this matter must be done with extreme diligence utilising the very best forensic experts to ensure that foul play can be ruled out. With the way the rubble are being cleared, who knows if this is not tampering with what may be the biggest crime scene in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Written by Engr. Olumide Michael