Banana Island building collapse due to contractors’ negligence, say insurance brokers

The Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) says the collapse of a seven-storey building in the Banana Island are of Lagos was due to “negligence”.

TheCable had reported that the building, which was under construction, collapsed on Wednesday evening, with some workers trapped under the rubble.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), in a statement, said no death was recorded, but workers were trapped in the building and a response team had been mobilised for search and rescue operations.

Reacting to the incident, Rotimi Edu, NCRIB president, described the incident as a case of negligence by the contractors who undertook the project.

“Though, no casualty was reported, the collapse brings to question the continuous recalcitrance of building contractors to adhere to extant regulatory prescriptions concerning public buildings in the country,” Edu said in a statement on Thursday.

According to Edu, the sensitivity of public buildings necessitates the need for builders and owners to imbibe insurance policies.

He said such policies include the public liability, contractors all risk (CAR), and other prescription of sections 64 and section 65 of the insurance act, with regards to public buildings.

The NCRIB president said if these insurance policies had been in place, the risk of total loss incurred by the owners of the collapsed buildings would have been greatly reduced.

Edu called on the state government to expedite investigation on the cause of the building collapse.

He also advised the state government to urgently apprise the public with the result of the findings and actions to be taken to avert future building infractions in the state.

Below are photos of the collapsed building.