Ikoyi collapsed building: Bodies will be released from this week as 21 families submit samples for DNA test

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4 years ago

Lagos State government on Tuesday disclosed that 21 families of victims of the collapsed 21-storey building on Gerrard Road in Ikoyi area of the state have come forward to submit samples for DNA to identify bodies that they wished to claim.

The government also assured that the bodies would be released to the affected families as from this week once the identification was clear and there were no arguments.

The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, stated this in a statement issued from his office while giving update on the collapsed building in Ikoyi.

The statement added that operation continued at the site of the collapsed building and would go on “until the site is cleared and no body is left in the rubble.”

This was just as the commissioner said the panel of inquiry set up by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to find out why the building went down and suggest ways of stopping such incidents had continued its sittings and collecting documents that may help unravel the mystery of the collapsed building.

Omotoso, while speaking further on the identification of the corpses, said a committee to supervise the processes and release of the bodies had been set up.

According to him, the committee comprised senior officials of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Justice.

Text of the statement read: “The identification of bodies of the victims of the Ikoyi building collapse has continued at the IDH, Yaba, Lagos Mainland. Twenty-nine families have come forward to submit samples for DNA to identify bodies that they wish to claim. In cases where identification is clear and there are no arguments, the bodies will be released to the families as from this week.

“A committee to supervise the identification and release of the bodies has been set up. It comprises senior officials of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Justice.

“At the site, the operation continues. It will go on until the site is cleared and no body is left in the rubble of the collapsed 21-storey edifice.

“The panel of inquiry set up by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to find out why the building went down and suggest ways of stopping such incidents has continued its sittings. It is collecting documents that may help unravel the mystery of the collapsed building.”