Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has warned developers and residents against the construction of houses without approved building plans.
This is as Governor Adeleke also threatened to bulldoze badly built houses posing a threat to human safety.
Adeleke in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed was reacting to a recent building collapse in the Ayetoro area of Osogbo.
In the statement made available on Sunday in Osogbo, Governor Adeleke emphasised that the importance of securing approvals for building plans is to ensure the standard of construction and avoidance of needless deaths and injuries.
He said a building plan is not an optional step in the building construction process as it stops substandard houses that frequently collapse and pose safety risks to the occupants and the environment.
He said, “I am using this medium to direct the Ministry of Lands to step up enforcement of approved building plans by developers and residents. Our officials must go to the estates and development areas to ensure houses are constructed according to approved plans.
“We need to save lives by ensuring that houses are built according to standard. We must also be proactive by testing the strength of houses before a human tragedy occurs. Substandard houses once identified should be pulled down before fatal collapse.
“We will sanction those who refuse to comply with the condition of approved building plans. I further direct relevant agencies to pull down substandard houses before they wreak havoc. We must not wait for lives to be lost before we act.”
DAILY POST gathered that a building had caved in in the Sabo area of Osogbo, Osun State capital, on Sunday morning.
As a result of the disaster, residents of the area were panic-stricken.
Eyewitness reported that a loud sound was heard in the neighbourhood as the building suddenly went down.
It was reported that some people were in the building when it suddenly collapsed.
The eyewitnesses also confirmed that personnel of the Nigeria Police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, promptly responded to a distress call from the scene of the incident.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the Nigerian Security Civil Defense Corps(NSCDC), Osun State Command, Kehinde Adeleke confirmed the collapse.
She said, “The said building collapsed at about 07:30 hrs today Sunday 14th July 2024 entrapping 5 people.
“Two people have been rescued so far while the remaining three are entrapped under the decking that requires the use of a crane.
“While we await the crane, people are doing all they can within the physical human capacity to break the decking and connected rods. The LGA chairman and his team were around and they went to see how the crane could be brought down. On ground are the SSG who just arrived, NSCDC, Police commissioner of police and the team, OSEMA, and other government dignitaries.”