LASG convicts 53 offenders for contravening building regulations

The Lagos State Special Offences Court at Gbolade, Oshodi, has convicted 53 persons who contravened the building regulations in the state.

The offenders were convicted after the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) prosecuted them for contravening the provisions of the Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2010.

According to LASBCA’s General Manager, Mr Lekan Shodeinde, the agency has issued 83 summons against the offenders of the law in different parts of the state.

“The court had duly convicted 53 while others are still pending in court,” he said in a statement on Monday in Lagos.

Shodeinde said the offenders were being prosecuted for different contraventions and other related offences as stipulated in the building law.

He said that their offences included erection of structure without a planning permit contrary to Section 27 (1) of the Law and punishable under Section 75 (1) of the same law.

Other offences include breaking of government seals or removal of any mark placed on a contravening structure by or with order of the agency, punishable under Section 75 (2) of the Law.

He said that failure to insure a building as required by the law for which the offenders were prosecuted was contrary to Section 75 (3) of the Law.

The general manager said that the prosecuted offenders had been convicted accordingly with an option of fine at the discretion of the court.

He said that they were also maximum fine for the recalcitrant defaulters for breaking of government seal.

He added that LASBCA had been working within the ambit of the law with the monitoring team for a better and well planned city.

Shodeinde said they also worked with developers and builders to ensure compliance with the approval granted and also monitored the safety of the structure being developed.

“We are more concerned about the safety of the people making sure that where they abode is safe and secured,” he said.

He reaffirmed government’s zero tolerance for building collapse in the state and the need to build right.

Shodeinde appealed to all Lagos residents to obtain their building plan permit before the construction of any structure and comply with state laws regarding the approval given.

He also urged building owners to seize the opportunity to regularise and perfect their building documentations to avoid any embarrassment from Law Enforcement officers.

He said that government officials of the newly reformed LASBCA aimed at working together with the people “for their own safety and for a safer and well-planned smart-city”.