Ikoyi Building Collapse: Two Remaining Towers Undergoing Demolition

Two remaining towers on the site of the collapsed 21-storey building belonging to Messrs Fourscore Homes Limited on 42 Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, are presently undergoing demolition.

The deconstruction of the two towers, which ought to have been completed by now, suffered a delay, it was gathered, due to a court case instituted against the state government, barring it from demolishing or taking over the land.

However, reprieve came the way of the state authority last Thursday as the Lagos High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos Island, dismissed a suit by 15 subscribers of various units of apartments (that were being constructed by Fourscore Heights Limited) in three high-rise buildings at 44BCD, Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Justice Olabisi Akinlade dismissed the suit for being statute-barred having been filed out of time.

Recall that  in June 2022 the Lagos State Government  said it would demolish the remaining buildings on the land, handing over  the complex to the contractor, Messrs Edge of Designs, for deconstruction.

The state authority said the buildings would take about three months or more to be demolished, adding that the land on which the structures were situated would be taken over by the state government.

It noted that the taking over of the land was in line with the state physical planning law, which stated that owners of collapsed buildings would forfeit the land to the state.

It said the demolition would be carried out with the interests of the public, including the residents, at heart.

The demolition is one of the recommendations of the panel set up by the government, having failed integrity tests.

No sooner had the contractor mobilized to the site than some subscribers of the failed structures took the Lagos State Government to court, restraining it from taking further action on the two towers.