The corpses of the Managing Director, Fourscore Heights Limited, Mr Femi Osibona, and his friend, a United States of America-based Nigerian businessman, Wale Bob-Oseni, have been recovered from the 21-storey building that collapsed on Gerrard Road in the Ikoyi area of Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro learnt that their bodies were found on Thursday by responders during the recovery operation at the scene of the incident.
Bob-Oseni, a real-estate dealer, was on his way back to the US on Monday when he got a call from Osibona to check out the project.
Both friends were subsequently trapped when the building collapsed.
Our correspondents had reported that the 21-storey building crumbled on Monday around 2pm when Osibona, who owned the project, his clients and workers were on the site.
One of our reporters, who was at the scene on Thursday, reported that no fewer than 40 corpses had so far been recovered from the site.
Sanwo-Olu, on Thursday, declared three days of mourning for the victims of the collapsed building.
The governor, in a statement by the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, commiserated with all those who lost their loved ones in the tragic incident.
“All flags are to be flown at half-mast in public and private buildings and official engagements cancelled during the mourning period,” he added.
Sanwo-Olu noted that since the help desk was opened on Wednesday, only 19 names of missing persons had been registered with the state government.
He said the number of persons trapped in the collapsed building remained unclear.
The governor said, “Yesterday (Wednesday), we opened a register for people that have missing persons or loved ones whom they believed must have been at the site before the collapse. As I speak here, it is only 19 names of missing persons that have been registered. Some of them have pictures, others do not. This list would help us to get information on manifest of those at the site.” (Punch)
