IT was time yesterday to count their losses and relive years of living in fear of the building coming down.
The building collapsed on Monday night, killing a four-year-old boy, Kehinde. No fewer than 10 were injured.
Kehinde’s mother, Iyabo Adeosun and other residents said they would have packed out long ago, if they had money to rent another house.
They sent a Save Our Soul (SOS) to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to assist them in getting new accommodation.
The three-storey building at 3, Hassan Lane, off Agarawu Street, Lagos, Island, collapsed and fell on a house behind it where Kehinde was sleeping.
Adeosun said her child was hale and hearty before he went to bed on Monday night.
“I never knew that would be the last time I would see him. He was sleeping when the house collapsed and he died.
“I was always scared of that house that collapsed on ours. We had complained to the landlord, but he would always renovate the house rather than demolish it.
“I know the government has told us to leave our house, but we cannot because we don’t have money to get another accommodation.
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“I have nowhere to sleep. Our belongings are now outside. I have nowhere to go. I implore the government to help us,” she said.
The grandmother of injured two-year-old Basit, Silifat Raji, appealed to the government for help.
“I was inside my room on Monday night eating when the house collapsed. I heard a loud sound and I saw the building coming down. I carried Basit, she was uncomfortable. She found it difficult to breathe. She was shaking, fear gripped me. It was like something struck me. I did not know what to do. We were taken to hospital, but I was discharged the following day. I have visited Basit in her ward. She is undergoing treatment.”
Adeosun’s sister, Mali Bakare, said: “We need urgent help from the government. We are not happy to live in a house like that.”
She said rent was expensive in Lagos, in addition to agreement and commission fees.
Bakare said the house should have been demolished four years ago.
She said: “Government officials come every year to mark the building for demolition, but they will never demolish it. The house is weak. After the Itafaji building collapse in March, occupants were ordered to vacate the house and they did. We informed the government to come and demolish the house. We wrote on the Facebook that the house was shaking. We wrote a petition, but to no avail.”
Sikiratu Adelani said the house was marked for demolition when the Itafaji building collapsed, but the government did not demolish it.
“It is after the house collapsed that they ejected us and sealed off our buildings. This is unfair. They should have demolished this house that collapsed, since it was marked for demolition, instead of allowing it to collapse, killing one person,” Adelani said.
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