Ikoyi building collapse: Five victims still unidentified -Pathologist

 

.As White Paper gives Sanwo-Olu kudos

 

A pathologist, Dr Sokunle Soyemi, has revealed that five deceased victims of the 21-storey building, which collapsed on November 1, 2021 at Gerard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, are yet to be identified.

 

Soyemi, who is the acting Chief Medical Examiner of Lagos State, said this while testifying at an Ikeja Coroner’s Court on Thursday.

 

The pathologist, in his testimony, said there were 50 victims of the collapsed building (47 male and three female); 45 have so far been identified and their ages range from 18 to 56-years.

 

Soyemi said autopsies on the bodies commenced on November 4, 2021 and lasted for 13-days until November 13, 2021.

 

Revealing the causes of death, he said, “so far we have identified 45 bodies out of 50. The autopsies revealed that 40 deceased had multiple injuries as cause of death.

 

“Six had injuries to the head alone and died. One had bilateral fracture of the femure.”

 

The pathologist said the remains were put in 53 body bags because an additional three body bags had contained body parts of the deceased victims.

 

On the physical state of the corpses, the pathologist said the bodies could not be visually identified and samples had to be taken from the bodies for testing at the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre.

 

“After about a month, we started receiving results from the lab. As we were receiving the results we were also releasing the bodies to families and up till now, we are still releasing bodies.

 

“At present, of the 45 identified bodies, 42 have been released to family members while the remaining three have not been collected by family members.

 

“When there was a call for family members to come and donate samples, some people who were not related to the deceased came forward and the samples could not match.

 

“We had to call again for new samples from family members which came in about two weeks ago,” he said.

 

Soyemi in his evidence revealed that he never visited the site of the collapsed building during the course of his duties.

 

He also noted that death certificates had been issued for the deceased.

 

The coroner, Mr Oyetade Komolafe, adjourned proceedings until February 18 for continuation of hearing.

 

However, The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, has been applauded for his “forthrightness and sincerity” in adopting the recommendations of the six-man panel set up to examine the Ikoyi building collapse. The 21-storey structure went down on November 1, last year.

 

During a telephone interview with the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, on the 99.3FM radio programme “Daily Digest”, host Jimi Disu acknowledged that it took courage for Mr. Governor to adopt 26 of the 28 recommendations of the six-man panel.

 

Saluting Mr. Governor’s “courage”, Disu said, “We are not oblivious of the kind of pressure he must have gone through. If we lesser mortals have gone through so much pressure over the issue, then we must give him credit for doing this”.

 

Callers on the programme also praised Mr. Sanwo-Olu for not sweeping the matter under the carpet. They encouraged him to ensure that it is followed up till the end.

 

Responding to questions about compensation to families of those who died in the incident, Omotoso said all those who evacuated bodies of their loved ones and asked for assistance were given money for transportation and funeral.  Nobody, according to him, has come out to say he or she lost money in the incident.

 

Omotoso said: “The law has no room for such compensation, but if you’re talking about doing this on compassionate grounds, I know Mr. Governor as a compassionate leader.  If other people also put up a case for assistance with verifiable documentation, I am sure it is something that Mr. Governor may consider”.

 

On those doubting if indeed those indicted will be prosecuted, the Commissioner said Attorney-General Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN) had been directed by Governor Sanwo-Olu to ensure that those found guilty of compromising the process of adherence to quality standards at the Foreshore Towers in Ikoyi are prosecuted.

 

Speaking further, Omotoso disclosed that the State Government was already fashioning out ways of collaboration with the private sector to strengthen monitoring and enforcement activities in the built sector in response to one of the recommendations of the panel on lack of adequate personnel to monitor building projects across the State.

 

He gave an assurance that all those found culpable in the process leading to the Foreshore Tower collapse, especially civil servants, will face sanctions.