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Ikoyi Building Collapse: Provisional Approval Not Given Before Construction Started – LASBCA

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The Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) told a Coroners Inquest investigating the November 1 collapse of a 21-story building on Gerrard Road in Ikoyi, Lagos, that the three high-rise blocks were built months before the provisional license was granted.

Mr. A.S Odugbemi, counsel for the LASBCA, made the claim while questioning Mr Muritala Olawale, Managing Director of Prowess Engineering Nigeria Ltd. Olawale had previously worked on the project as a consulting structural engineer.

He resigned his position in a letter dated February 20, 2020, citing disagreements about the project’s structural execution.

At the coroner’s proceedings, Odugbemi disputed the contents of paragraph 17 of Olawale’s statement on oath to the inquest, stating that late Femi Osibona, the Managing Director of Fourscore Heights Limited, had informed his team that he had received provisional approval for the project’s construction.

According to Olawale’s statement on oath, Osibona showed his team a copy of the provisional approval from the Lagos State government and ordered them to commence construction on the site.

Disputing Olawale’s claims, Odugbemi said that LASBCA never granted Osibona a provisional planning permit when the team moved to the site to commence construction in January 2019, adding that LASBCA granted provisional approval in April 2019.

“Will you be surprised if the evidence is provided to you right now that work had started before the provisional planning approval was granted in April 2019?” Odugbemi asked.

Responding, Olawale said “I will be surprised. All the approval processes were being handled by the client (Osibona).”

Olawale did not give a specific answer to Odugbemi’s query on whether the three high-rise blocks were covered by a general insurance policy as required by law.

He, however, informed the panel that prior to construction, a soil test was conducted at the site by another company contracted to do the job, disclosing that “we have submitted the result of the soil test of the site to other panels investigating the collapse.”

Of the three high-rise buildings (Blocks A, B, and C) which were situated on Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, Block B (21-storeys) collapsed on November 1, 2021, killing 46 persons while 15 persons were rescued alive.

BIG STORY

I Must Draw Blood From You, Says Ekiti Universty Bully As She Brutalises Fellow Student [VIDEO]

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A video making rounds on social media shows a female undergraduate of Bamidele Olumilua University of Education Science and Technology, Ikere in Ekiti State, brutally beating a fellow student with a stick.

Despite pleas from the victim, the bully was heard saying, “Let me draw blood from you easily or hardly.”

The incident reportedly occurred on Sunday, the same day the video surfaced on social media, and the witness who filmed the video claimed it happened on BOUESTI’s campus.

According to the video’s commentator, the victim is Ajayi Precious Gloria, while the perpetrator is a “very popular” Mass Communication student.

The commentator further claimed that the two were friends.

The video showed other individuals present during the assault, but none intervened to stop the attack. The reason for the attack is not yet known.

There was outrage on social media over a viral video of a female student at Lead British International School, Abuja, being bullied by her classmates.

Same month, another video depicting a separate case of bullying involving some male students in the school’s uniform emerged.

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BIG STORY

Edo Crisis Deepens As Speaker Suspends Shaibu’s Loyalists, Two Others

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Speaker Blessing Agbebaku of the Edo State House of Assembly created a stir on Monday when he suspended three members indefinitely over a purported plot to remove him and other key officers.

There were also rumours of charms discovered within the house. Two members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and one member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are among the parliamentarians on suspension.

The only suspended member to refuse to sign the letter of impeachment for former Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu was Donald Okogbe (PDP), who represented Akoko-Edo II.

The other suspended members are Addeh Emankhu Isibor (APC), representing Esan North-East I constituency, and Iyamu Bright (PDP), representing Orhionnwon II state constituency.

Agbebaku alleged that the suspended lawmakers plotted to change the house’s leadership, influenced by external forces seeking to cause chaos and effect changes in leadership. He also claimed that unidentified individuals brought native doctors into the house at midnight on May 1 to perform rituals and placed charms in the assembly complex to effect these changes.

The suspension led to tension and a rowdy session in the house, with the affected lawmakers protesting the speaker’s unilateral action and demanding a vote by members on the matter. But sensing the potential for chaos, the Speaker adjourned plenary hastily.

The suspended members, in response, described their suspension as vendetta and politically motivated, stating that the speaker’s actions were an attempt to suppress democratic ideals and principles.

Donald Okogbe emphasized that the speaker does not have the unilateral power to suspend a member, arguing that such action should have the support of the majority of the members according to the house rules and the constitution of Nigeria.

“The allegations levelled against us are untrue and founded; the action of the speaker is just impunity and tyranny of the red chair. So, our position is that the speaker does not have the sole power to suspend. That is the point we made in the house. The power to suspend a member rests on the members of the house, not the speaker alone,” he said.

On the allegation of fetish items deposited at the premises of the house, Donald said that, as a Catholic, he does not involve himself in rituals.

Iyamu Bright also criticized the suspension, stating that it did not follow the relevant house rules and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Meanwhile, reactions have continued to trail the development in the state House of Assembly. The governorship candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) for the September 21 governorship election in the state, Udoh Oberaifo, condemned the suspension of three members and called for their immediate recall.

“Our courts have consistently held that the disciplinary powers of legislative houses like the Edo State House of Assembly do not extend to reckless suspension,” he noted.

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BIG STORY

Six Top NSCDC Officials Under EFCC Probe Over N6bn Fraud

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Six senior Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) personnel have been detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on suspicion of N6 billion in fraud. EFCC interrogators are currently grilling the senior staff at the commission’s headquarters in Jabi, Abuja.

It was gathered that the NSCDC personnel were turned over to the EFCC on Monday at the command of NSCDC Commandant General Ahmed Audi, despite the fact that specifics of the investigation are still hazy.

The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, had already demanded in a letter to the NSCDC CG that the officers be released for questioning, according to impeccable sources who wished to remain anonymous.

It was gathered that, “Six senior NSCDC officers are currently in our custody. They’re being grilled by our investigators over alleged fraudulent activities running into over N6bn.”

Confirming the development, another source said, “The EFCC did not arrest the NSCDC CG, neither is he being probed. We only have six senior NSCDC officers in our custody, and they’re being probed over alleged N6bn fraud.

“The EFCC Chairman had earlier written to the NSCSC CG to provide the officers, and the CG did. Now they’re in our custody and are being grilled by EFCC interrogators.”

The spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, could not be reached for comments on Monday as phone calls and text messages to his phone lines were not responded to nor returned.

Meanwhile, when contacted for comments, the spokesperson for the NSCDC, Babawale Afolabi, said he was not aware of the development.

“I’m not aware of this,” Afolabi said in a terse WhatsApp message sent to our correspondent on Monday.

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