New reports have emerged in the coroner inquest into the cause of the 21 storey building collapse in Gerard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
Muritala Olawale, a structural engineer, has testified before the Lagos State Building Control Agency that the builders working on the construction site of the Ikoyi building were not certified.
Olawale, who was quizzed by the counsel to the Lagos State Building Control Agency, Mr A.S. Odugbemi, said the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON) did not certify the builders at the construction site.
Olawale revealed that he was not registered with the Council of Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) because he does not have a BSc in Engineering; he finished with a Higher National Diploma at the Polytechnic Ibadan.
However, Olawale noted that his team only worked on the first floor of Block B, which also collapsed; he withdrew his structural services with Fourscore Heights Ltd with a letter approved on February 20, 2020.
The building collapsed on November 1, 2021, with 46 deaths recorded and few surviving the rubble after being pulled out alive.
The Lagos State Government has set up a panel to look into the cause of the collapse and give a report, promising that culpable personnel will be prosecuted accordingly.