A Lagos High Court in Igbosere on Thursday issued bench warrant for the arrest of a contractor of Lekki Gardens Estate Limited, Sola Olumofe, for failing to appear before the court on two consecutive occasions to stand trial in connection with a collapsed building.
Disaster struck when a five-storey building under construction by Lekki Gardens in the Lekki area of Lagos collapsed on March 10, 2016, killing 34 people.
The state government had filed criminal charges against the Managing Director of Lekki Gardens, Richard Nyong and five other contractors before Justice Sybil Nwaka over alleged negligence in the events leading to the building collapse which killed 34 persons.
Aside Nyong and Olumofe, other defendants are Taiwo Odofin, Omolabake Mortune, Marius Agwu and Omotilewa Joseph. They are standing trial alongside their companies, Lekki Gardens Estate Ltd, GT Rich Ltd and HC Insight Solutions Ltd.
The developer was said to have added additional floor to the five-storey building against what was approved by government for construction.
Specifically, the defendants are facing six counts charges for failure to obtain building approval for the collapsed building and manslaughter, offences punishable under Section 75 of the Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law of Lagos State 2010 and Section 224 of Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015 respectively.
At the last adjourned date, Olumofe had failed to appear before the court, while the matter was adjourned to June 1 for arraignment.
Again, when the matter was called, he equally failed to present himself for arraignment, a development which prompted Justice Nwaka to issue bench warrant for his arrest.
The judge specifically ordered that Olumofe be arrested and brought before the court on June 14 for arraignment alongside other defendants.
