Punch
Although the country’s statutory laws mandate insurance cover for buildings under construction with more than two floors, many of such buildings have collapsed without insurance, leaving survivors and families of victims with no compensation, NIKE POPOOLA reports
Mr Hassan Jamiu is one of the survivors of the building collapse that occurred at No. 53 Massey Street, Ita Faaji area of Lagos Island, on March 13, 2019.
Twenty people, mostly children, were confirmed dead while many others sustained different degrees of injuries as there was a school, Ohen Nursery and Primary School, and residential apartments in the three-storey building.
More than two years after, Jamiu told our correspondent that his life was drastically altered by the incident and he had not recovered from its impact.
“The building suddenly caved in, and I was in the dark rubble. I could hear cries of some others who were trapped like me but we only continued to pray, not sure of making it,” he said.
He was one of those who were pulled out of the collapsed building alive, taken to the hospital for treatment, but suffering from the aftermath of the disaster.
“I suffered from a lot of complications after the incidence. Right now, I cannot urinate on my own. I have done several operations. One foundation helped me to pay my bills to an extent but it stopped. I have not been able to work for more than two years; it is my wife that has been working,” he lamented.
Jamiu, whose apartment was on the second floor of the building, said his plan was to reside in that house for two years.
He said. “When I wanted to rent the house, I saw a red cross on it by the Lagos State Government. I asked the agent in charge of the house about it, and he said they were going to renovate the place.
“They later did a slight renovation with ordinary plaster and painted it. I planned to pack out of the house after two years.”
Jamiu is just one of many victims of building collapse who lost properties and are struggling to stay alive without any form of insurance compensation, which could have cushioned the hardship.
Their experiences could have been different if the country’s statutory laws that mandate that public buildings and buildings under construction above two floors must be insured were obeyed.
Mrs Omowumi Balogun told our correspondent that she had to stay at the site of the collapsed building till the second day because she could not find her seven-year-old daughter, Juradat, and had to wait for the rubble to be removed.
Balogun said her husband went to different hospitals where the survivors were taken to but didn’t find their daughter.
“When it collapsed, we were looking for my child till 6am the following day. We sent out her picture and we were told that the corpse was in the mortuary,” she said.
Balogun demanded compensation for the suffering of the victims and their families over the incidence that was not their fault.
She said, “We should be supported the way things are done abroad. The government went to see those in the hospital but neglected those that died.
“Some people initially came and gave us provision for feeding. Some foundations helped us but not the government. Since then, I have been suffering from high blood pressure. My health has been deteriorating; I have been in and out of hospital since then.”
Another victim of the Ita Faaji building collapse is Maria Adeyemo, who lost one of her twins and all her properties.
She said when the incident happened, her twins were studying in the school inside the building.
Struggling to speak amid tears, she said, “Taiye died while Kehinde battled for her life. We lived in the house, and I took my two children to their class that morning. I went out to the market and not long after, I was called back. When I got there, I saw the whole thing and fainted.
“I was resuscitated. The two twins were taken to separate hospitals; I went to one, and my husband went to the other.”
As the family had no roof over their heads again, a foundation came to their rescue and took them to Igando, a suburb in Lagos State, for a temporary accommodation which was quite far from their former home.
Adeyemo said they had no savings, and the family had to struggle to enrol Kehinde, the surviving twin, in another school, even as she was still recuperating.
“A foundation came and gave Kehinde a temporary scholarship but later they did not pay the school fees again. They only put her in school and stopped paying the school fees. We have not told her Taiye is dead,” she said.
Victims of building collapse in Nigeria are mostly the poor, whose situations are worsened by the lack of any form of insurance compensation that is necessary to enable them to readjust their lives.
Mrs Koforola Bello, who lost her 10-year-old daughter, Basit, to the Ita Faaji building collapse, said her child died because there was no oxygen in the ambulance that took her to the hospital.
“When we got to the general hospital, my child was still alive. They just laid the child in the ambulance. Since then, I have been battling with high blood pressure,” she said.
Mr Olajide Adebayo told our correspondent that he found his son, Khaliq, aged 6, in the mortuary a day after the collapse.
“Since then, government has said they will do something. But up till now, nothing has been done,” he said.
Incessant building collapse
Many buildings have collapsed across the country, especially in Lagos, in recent years, leading to the loss of lives.
Last month, a 21-storey building on Gerard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos State collapsed and 46 people, including the owner and developer of the 21-storey building, Mr Femi Osibona; and his personal assistant, Oyinye Enekwe, were confirmed dead
In 2016, a five-storey under construction by Lekki Gardens collapsed, killing 35 people, while 115 people died in the 2014 Synagogue Church Guest House collapse.
Operators in the insurance industry launched an investigation to unravel if there was any form of insurance cover for the Ikoyi high-rise to ensure compensation for the victims since the owner was not alive to say if the building was insured or not.
But the Nigerian Insurers Association, the umbrella body for 61 licensed insurance companies in the country, later said none of its 41 members licensed to provide building insurance cover had shown up as the insurer of the property.
The Lagos State Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat, promised that the state government would take full responsibility for the treatment and medical bills of rescued victims of the Ikoyi building collapse.
Although the state government swung into action to assist the survivors, there are fears in some quarters that the survivors might have to face future health challenges caused by the incident without any compensation, just like many victims of past building collapses.
Unfortunately, nothing is usually said of the compensation of the dead, some of whom were breadwinners of their families.
The President, Nigerian Institute of Building, Kunle Awobodu, lamented the devastating consequences of building collapse in the country.
