4th March, 2015
Henry Ojelu and Victoria Ikpeme
A structural engineer, Mr Saheed Ariyori, today told the coroner investigating the September 12, 2014 collapse of a hostel within the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) that the collapse was as a result of faulty foundation.
The witness who is a consultant to the Lagos State Material Testing Agency, made the claim while testifying before the coroner’s inquest investigating the collapse of the building.
Ayiroyi, who was led by Mr Akingbolahan Adeniran, counsel to the Lagos State Government, said he was part of the team of structural and geo-technical engineers that carried out a Structural Integrity Test on the building after it collapsed.
He said the team took samples of materials used in the building to the laboratory for test and also took measurements of the foundation bases.
According to him, since the church did not furnish them with the building designs, the team had to simulate the building to arrive at their conclusions.
Ariyori said based on all the tests and the calculations, we discovered that from inception, the building failed because the base that was supposed to take the load was grossly inadequate.
“The minimum base that will be required should have been 4.5 metres by 4.5 metres but what we had there was 2.2 metres by 2.2 metres.
“It was a wrong choice of foundation base. The foundation should have been continuous base and not a pad as was used in the construction.”
Demonstrating the defect before the court after being provided with a copy of the structural design, he said the load imposed on the foundation was far more than the foundation could bear, hence the collapse.
Responding to the claim, SCOAN’s counsel, Mr Olalekan Ojo, asked the court to adjourn his cross-examination of the witness to enable him consult with the church’s engineers.
Ojo noted there were some discrepancies in the building design which needed to be examined before the witness could be cross-examined.
He said the church’s consultant engineer, Mr Oladele Ogundeji, while testifying before the court had also disagreed with Ayiroyi’s claim that a raft foundation should have been erected for the structure.
The inquest was adjourned till March 5 for site visitation by parties while Ariyori’s cross-examination was fixed for March 6.