Anambra State government has ordered the demolition of two four-storey buildings, located at Amobi Street in Onitsha South Local Government Area of the state.
The ordered demolition was aimed at averting imminent collapse of the affected buildings and the attendant casualties, following incessant building collapses and casualties which occurred in the area when some buildings under construction collapsed and killed over eight persons and injured no fewer than 26 persons between February and March.
The two buildings, housing over 800 shops, designed to serve commercial purposes, have been paid for by traders, before the final completion of the project.
Findings showed that the decked portion of one of the buildings had already collapsed as a result of use of poor and substandard materials for the project.
The two structures, located in proximity to each other are currently having cracked pillars and weak decking, a development that led to the demolition order.
Chairman of Onitsha South Local Government Area, Chief Emeka Orji, disclosed the news of the demolition during an inspection of the site on Tuesday.
Orji expressed concerns over the continuation of the project, despite the order by the state government to stop work about a month ago.
He averred that the two buildings were already marked for demolition, but the owners allegedly removed the demolition marks and commenced heavy business activities at the ground floor of the buildings.
He equally observed that the contractors had already constructed another set of slabs preparatory for the decking of the fifth floor despite the demolition order.
He said the two contractors handling the projects, on getting the information that the local government officials would be visiting the area. fled to unknown destinations, wondering why people will choose to risk their lives doing business under a death trap.
He said, “The two buildings must go down in the next two days and that is the order and remember that the governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, had directed that all building plans must personally get his approval before construction, but these two buildings did not have the approval of the governor.
“We must do this to save the lives of our people and also avert possible deaths and casualties that have always been the results of collapsed buildings.’’
“Look at the materials that they are using and you all saw that the back of the buildings have already collapsed and we used the tape to block the entrance of the two buildings but they removed it and cleaned up the demolition marks and continued work.
“The two buildings with over 800 shops have been paid for by traders before the completion of the project. The shops have been sold to would-be occupants before they were marked for demolition.”
Recall that in the past three months three buildings had collapsed in Onitsha, killing a total of eight persons on site and the state government had to clear the debris and take over the lands in question.