The Oyo State Government has sealed off the building that collapsed under construction on Monday in the Dugbe area of Ibadan.
The state Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mr Williams Akin-Funmilayo, gave the directive when he visited the scene on Monday.
Akin-Funmilayo stated that the action was taken to ensure the safety of lives and property.
He added that sealing off would also allow the government to assess the situation and come up with an adequate report on the cause of the incident.
The commissioner alleged that some of the building materials used for the construction of the collapsed building appeared to be sub-standard and of low quality.
He declared that an integrity test would be carried out on the collapsed building to prevent a recurrence.
Akin-Funmilayo stated that the outcome of the test would determine the government’s next action.
“After seeing the extent of the collapse, we decided it has to be sealed off because we have to prevent loss of lives.
“Professionals from the Ministry of Works would have to come and carry out an integrity test, after which the report would advise us on the next action to be taken on the property.
“In addition, this outlet belongs to a popular eatery outfit; I believe the same engineer doing this place handled the other outlets they have in Ibadan and other cities.
“But, for this to have happened, it means that we have to carry out an integrity test on all their buildings.
“If we find out that the other outlets fail the integrity test, we will bring them down, because we cannot afford to toy with the lives of our people,” the commissioner said.
