Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeola Ipaye, yesterday blamed the delay in prosecuting owners and developers of collapsed buildings in the state on the police.
Speaking to newsmen in Lagos, Ipaye said the state was worried about the spate of collapsed buildings across the state, but that its effort at prosecuting offenders had been frustrated.
The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that a five-storey shopping complex collapsed on November 4 at No. 9, Muri Okunola St., Eti-Osa Local Government Area.
Three persons were reportedly killed, while 12 others were injured in the incident.
“It is the duty of the police to arrest and investigate such incidents. In the ones that have happened in the past, we have taken action by writing to the police to send us the case files.
“The problem we have is that we do not have control over that process because the police force is a Federal Government agency.
“Until we get the reports of the investigations from them, we cannot take the people to court,” Ipaye said.
He threatened that such buildings would henceforth be forfeited to the government by their owners if culpable negligence was established, citing Section 74 of the Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law of 2010.
Ipaye therefore urged residents to comply with the provisions of relevant legislations in the building industry and to engage professionals in developing their property.
He added that the State Building Control Agency had been empowered to remove illegal structures and demolish distressed buildings to avert disasters.
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