By joshua 
Uzo Nwogu
No fewer than 15 people had been confirmed dead on Tuesday following the collapse of the 21 storey building at 44 BCD Gerard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos State on Monday, sources said.
The South-West Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye, stated that nine people had so far been rescued alive.
The General Manager, Lagos State Building Control Agency, Gbolahan Oki, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria had said the owner of the collapsed 21-storey building had been arrested and would be prosecuted.
Oki said, “The materials he used for the reinforcement are so terrible. He got approval for 15 floors but built 21. He has been arrested.”
He stated that the approval for the building was for a 15 storey building while the building had been extended to a 21 storey structure.
However, a witness at the collapsed structure told people on Tuesday that the owner was still alive and had been sending text messages to his workers and aides that he was still trapped.
Also, contrary to the claim that approval was given for 15 storey building while it was extended to 21 storey building, the Lagos State Deputy Governor, Femi Hamzat, who visited the scene was quoted to have said the approval was given for a 21-story building three years ago.
According to him, the Lagos State Government sealed the site for four months. He added that regular supervision was ongoing on the site before it collapsed.
The massive and gigantic project dubbed: 360 Degrees Towers on 44 BCD Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, represents three fine pieces of high-rise and real estate, being built in the area.
Two of the projects were still imposingly standing while the third one collapsed on Monday.
The consultancy company in charge of ascertaining the structural integrity of the building, Prowess Engineering Limited, had on February 20, 2020, in a letter indicated its withdrawal from the project.
The Managing Director, Prowess Engineering Limited, Muritala Olawale, had in the letter stated that his company could not guarantee the integrity of the building from anything above the fourth floor.
The letter was titled: “Re: Proposed Gerrard Terraces For Fourscore Limited.”
Olawale, in the letter, which was addressed to Mr Femi Osibona, had said his company, no longer shared the “same vision” with Fourscore Heights Limited on how the project was being developed.
He added that his company would not be held responsible for “any construction errors that may have occurred overtime on the project.”
According to him, while the first two projects were well supervised, the third building was only guaranteed to be safe up to the fourth floor, in terms of concrete strength.
Olawale in the letter stated: “This letter is to formally inform you of the withdrawal of our structural consultancy service from the above-named project. We arrived at this decision due to the fact that we no longer share the same vision with you as our client in terms of how the project is being executed.
“We can guarantee the integrity of the first two buildings and also works done up to the fourth floor of the third building supervised by us provided specifications have been met in terms of the required concrete strength.
“This we do not have control over as we do not have the concrete cube test results for each stage of the building till date, Also, kindly note that we are not taking responsibilities for any other construction errors that may have occurred over time on the project.
“Furthermore, we request that our company’s name and logo be removed from the project board and also kindly notify all necessary approving authorities of our withdrawal from the project.”