The coroner inquest into the collapsed building in Ikoyi continue at Ikeja court premises on Thursday, January 27, 2022.
At the proceeding, the Director General/Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency LASEMA, Dr. Oluwafemi Damilola Oke-Osayintolu gave a vivid account of how the rescue operations were carried out by responders.
He gave evidence that none of the victims of the collapsed building died during the rescue operations saying that evidence showed that they were all dead before the rescue operations commenced.
The 21-storey high-rise building located at Gerard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos collapsed killing 50 people.
While being led in evidence-in-chief by the Lagos State Building Control Agency, LASBCA, A.S Odugbemi at the coroner inquest presided by Chief Magistrate Oyetade Alexander Komolafe in Ikeja investigating the 21-storey building collapsed which occured at Gerard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, Dr. Oke-Osayintolu explained that his experience during the rescue operations was carried out by both professionals and non-professionals alike, assisting with their equipment.
He said the agency in its years of existence was confronted with what he described as a classical national emergency.
He noted that the rescue team he directed and gave instructions to as the incident commander mandated by the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu moved into the incident area following a primary assessment, partitioning the ‘building’ into Quadrums 1 to 4 and employing Heavy and Life Duty equipment.
He also said the use of drone and Delsa equipment for detection of life enabled both primary and secondary emergency responders to determine that there was no life in the debris before work commenced.
Speaking on oath before the Coroner, Magistrate Komolafe, Dr. Oke-Osayintolu was queried by Mr. Ola Adeosun representing Prowess Engineering Ltd whether the agency in the course of the rescue operation led to the death of some persons underground.
He responded, “My Lord, with my medical background, I have attended to a lot of emergencies within State and Federal, I would say no.”
Speaking about what he called theatre field or the emergency field, DG LASEMA said, “Where we put the excavator is the first quadrum. We use the Delsa to detect if there is somebody that is alive and I said this type of collapse building, it’s unique itself.
“When it pile on one another there won’t be air going in, it will compress the victim and the way our response was operated we divided the place into quadrums.
“We used a Delsa and drone, I can say that that probability is close to zero.
Continuing the cross-examination, Mr. Adeosun asked, “Are you telling this court that before moving your equipment, you must have confirmed that there is no person alive?
The witness replied during the proceeding,“100 per cent yes, My Lord,” he insists.
“There was nobody that died in the course of our intervention to the best of my knowledge.”
Earlier at Thursday’s proceeding which commenced at 10:34 a.m continued with the testimony of Mr. Muritala Olawale, a structural engineer and the Managing Director of Prowess Engineering Nigeria Ltd.
The witness, Mr. Olawale tendered document on the soil test conducted which were admitted by the Coroner as exhibit.
Further hearing has been adjourned till February 4, 2022.
