Lagos Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat says the collapsed luxury building in Ikoyi was shut down for months because it was unsafe and failed structural tests.

“As a matter of fact, if you are aware, this location was sealed for about four months sometimes ago. It was sealed because our agency came in to do structural tests and saw some anomalies. So they shut it down for those things to be corrected,” he said.

Mr Hamzat was speaking with journalists at the site of the collapse where rescue operations remain ongoing for possible survivors that remain trapped under the rubble.

He explained that the building was shut down for some months after some anomalies were noticed by the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA).

“When they saw the abnormalities they shut the site down. We do that regularly and we just hope that you understand the need for the state government to do that most of the time.”

On Monday, the LASBCA said a 15-storey building was approved to be constructed on the land, but instead, a 21-storey building was built.

However, Mr Hamzat commenting, said, the developer got approval for a 21-storey on one of the buildings, and a “14 or 15” storeys approval for the second building.

“The approval was done about three years ago, it is not something new. It is the construction that failed apparently from what we can see,” Mr Hamzat added.

He said the issue was not with the number of storeys but the structure of the building.

On the ongoing rescue operation, the deputy governor said, it was unclear the number of people trapped under the collapsed building.

“It is not a residential building yet. It is not that we have tenants or a list of people,” he said, adding that “we are hopeful that we still get out more people. We are not leaving until we are able to be accountable for everyone in the building.”

He said two people that sustained injuries were receiving treatment in the hospital.

“Totally we have taken out nine people, they are at the General hospital while some people have even been discharged, about two or so. But we have also sadly taken out 10 bodies,” he said.