The Lagos State Building Control Agency has ordered the demolition of the building housing a parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, located in the Somolu area of the state, which was partially destroyed after a building that was under construction collapsed and fell on it.

It would be recalled that the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency confirmed that some worshippers in the church escaped death on Monday following the incident.

Our correspondents who were at the scene of the collapsed building, on Tuesday, gathered that LABSCA also ordered the occupants of the building to quit it.

Another notice pasted on the wall indicated that the worship centre had suffered a structural defect as a result of the collapsed building beside it.

In the third notice, LASBCA ordered that the building be demolished within seven days.

The demolition notice read, “Please refer to the contravention notice with Ref. LASBCA /SML/25/PCA/CN/091 dated June 16, 2025, served on the structure above address.

“This office has observed that you have not complied with the instruction contained in the notice.

“Notice is hereby given that if the said infraction is not removed within seven days from the date of this notice, the said infraction/unauthorised or distressed building shall be demolished and the cost of such demolition recovered from you.”

Meanwhile, while speaking to PUNCH Metro, the Parish Pastor, Daniel Ojo, lamented the disruption that the planned demolition would have on the activities of the church.

He also stressed that there were initial concerns over the quality of work on the collapsed building, which had now affected the church building.

He said, “We can no longer have services here. We are supposed to have service today, but we can’t meet.

“There was a bungalow, and some of our members were there. They had to relocate because someone bought it and pulled it down. Within a few days, they started excavating, and before you knew it, a new building came up.

“Without even being an engineer, we were wondering at the rate at which this thing was going.”

Ojo also explained that it would be difficult to find a temporary site for church services, because of the industrial nature of the area.

“Getting a location or an event hall for services temporarily is very difficult because Somolu is an industrial area. Also, if we move far away from here, we will lose our members, and we love the church as it is a family church,” he said.

Narrating how workers at the site of the collapsed building escaped death, a trader in the area who spoke on the condition of anonymity told PUNCH Metro that the workers jumped while the building was about to fall.

“The construction workers escaped death because none of them was at the bottom of the building. They were all at the top, and when the building collapsed, they all fled for survival,” the trader said.

When our correspondent contacted the contact on the notice, the respondent, who identified himself as Adekomi Adeniyi, confirmed that the notice was pasted by LASBCA but did not disclose his designation.

“After we cleared the rubble of the collapsed building, we went to check if it affected the church building, which was why we pasted the notice,” Adeniyi said. (The PUNCH)