Governor Dapo Abiodun-led Ogun State Government has confirmed the demolition of DATKEM Plaza in Ijebu Ode, owned by Olufunke Daniel, the wife of former Governor Gbenga Daniel.
According to the State government, the building “is an illegal structure without an approved plan.”
Information Nigeria had reported that the Ogun State Government had demolished the five-storey plaza in the early hours of Sunday.
The project manager and developer, Olusegun Lawal, described it as a demolition by government officials while aide to Daniel, Steve Oliyide, said the building was vandalised by thugs loyal to Governor Abiodun
However, confirming the demolition in a statement, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Olayiwola Abiodun said the structure is illegal as it contravened the state’s physical planning laws.
According to the engineer, the structure violated the building codes of the state with numerous defects, adding that several efforts made by the state government to halt further development on site were ignored by the developers.
He said government officials requested the structural engineer in charge of the building to avail the state of the structural equilibrium of the building, which was ignored.
The Permanent Secretary recalled that the various incidents of building disasters across the country, adding that the Ogun State Government will not fold its arms and allow such occurrence.
What the government did in partially pulling down the defective building, he said, was to be proactive.
READ ALSO: DSS Arrests, Grills CBN Deputy Gov., Aisha Ahmad Over Fraudulent Acquisition Of Polaris Bank
While challenging the structure owners to produce evidence of government approval in their possession, he said for a commercial building of that status, there must be parking space to accommodate vehicular traffic within and outside the facility for workers and visitors.
Abiodun said that the building lacked stage certification, usually issued at every stage of construction.
He said owners were served the necessary notices, including abatement, contravention, stop work, and demolition, between May and October 2022, which were ignored.
DATKEM Enterprises Limited, he noted, submitted an application for an office building located along Ibadan Road, Ijebu Ode, in 2009 with registration number CB/05/299/2009.
“The proposal was for five (5) floors with airspace of 3 metres at the right, 5m at the left, 5metres at the rear, and a setback of 32.5516 metres to the middle of Ijebu Ode/Ibadan road, Ijebu-Ode.
“The Zonal Town Planning Office observed during routine monitoring that the construction on site did not conform with the plan granted as there was a deviation from the airspaces and setback.
“In addition, the building had been modified and enlarged with an additional storey building at the back, thereby becoming over-density.
“In view of the above, the following actions were taken: Contravention Notice with Serial No. 0106983 was served on 24th May 2022. Stop Work Order with Serial No. 000623 was served on 24th May 2022.
“Another Stop Work Order with Serial No. 001065 was served on 22nd July 2022 when the first notice was ignored.
“Demolition Notice with Serial No. 0007549 was served on 11th October 2022. Notice to seal with Serial No. 000815 was served on 4th October 2022,” the statement read.
