Lagos govt to demolish sixteen distressed buildings in Alaba market

The Lagos state government has warned residents that its drive to rid the state of defective buildings is still in place.

This warning was given as the Lagos State Building control agency marked several shops in Alaba international market for demolition which commenced immediately.

A look at some of the building from the front view doesn’t show any sign of damage but a closer view of several shops inside the market shows all the flaws.

Most of the building are either showing wear or tear, caving in while others are bent while construction is ongoing.

The State Building control agency is raiding the area marking several of these buildings for demolition with a promise to come back later to
demolish them.

Shop owners are obviously not happy with this latest development as most of them say they pay a huge amount for the shops.

Gbolahan Oki, general manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) said the affected buildings had been marked for demolition many times since 2016 but the occupants disregarded the notices.

He said that his visit was to issue final warnings and vacation notices to occupants of the buildings marked for demolition

The agency said the physically distressed building had marked inscription on different parts and vacation notices as far back as 2016, 2020, 2022 “and several others issued to this year, 2023.”

Mr Oki who decried the rate of harassment meted to officials of the agency at different times in the past, said that seven years notification was enough for the occupants of the buildings marked for demolition to have vacated the structures and comply with the notices issued by LASBCA and other government agencies.

The agency says the buildings will be demolished between now and Monday to save lives within the area.

So far about 16 buildings within the Alaba International markets have been marked for demolition by the states building control agency.

The agency believes this will further let Nigerians know that it is not business as usual.