Lekki Gardens assures of adequate support for families of building collapse victims

As the unfortunate incident that happened at the Lekki Gardens Estate in Lekki, Lagos, recently continues to generate reactions from many quarters, the management of the company has expressed deep regret over the loss of lives in the incident, assuring survivors and families of victims of adequate support.

The company says it is giving adequate attention to survivors of the incident and providing support to the families of those that lost their lives, while appealing to the Lagos State government to temper justice with mercy and release its managing director on bail.

Expressing the importance it attaches to human lives, the company reveals that it has taken steps to provide necessary support for victims and their families, noting that the ethnic communities in the area have also lent their support by identifying the bodies of those who lost their lives while investigations continue.

“We are in regular contact with those affected and further rehabilitative efforts have already been provided,” says Steve Agbiboa, head, Estate Relations and Legal Department of the company, at an interactive session with journalists in Lagos recently.

The real estate giant, incorporated in 2012 and has built over 6,000 houses across Nigeria, says it is asking for its managing director, Richard Nyong, to be granted bail, as it pledges to co-operate with relevant authorities in the course of the investigations into the incident.

Agbiboa has emphasised that the company is driven by a vision to be able to provide cheap, affordable and luxury-like housing without cutting standards and explained that “the way we operate is that we come up with our designs and engage independent contractors and, of course, subject to the necessary internal policies that we have”.

“Once these structures are completed, we do our confirmation before we accept it into our pool of structures. So, obviously, we would not build a house and allow it to collapse on people. It is just a very sad and unfortunate incident,” he added.

Though the company says it does not want to be confrontational or combative in its approach to the matter, it has faulted the state authorities on certain issues raised against the company, noting that the state government had, in a statement, claimed that the structural plan approval it issued to Lekki Garden on the said site was meant to be for a 3-storey building.

It however counters the claim of the state authorities stating that it has a documented approval for the erection of a five-storey building on the site of the incident from the state government, and explained in clear terms that it stopped construction works on the building as a result of a structural defect it noticed on the house as against the claim of the state authority, which said that there was an order restraining the company from continuing its work on the building.

Lagos and its residents had woken up on the fateful Tuesday, March 8, 2016, to the news of the collapse of a five-storey building still under construction at an estate in Lekki owned by Lekki Gardens, leading to loss of lives and injury sustained by the survivors.