Photo: Kayode Oladapo/Premium Times

A rescue team search for more victims from the scene of a building, which collapsed at Itafaji on the Lagos Island.

The Lagos State Government Tuesday constituted a five-man panel to investigate the immediate and remote causes of three-storey building that collapsed at Ita Faaji, Lagos Island last Wednesday.

The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Rotimi Ogunleye, inaugurated the panel at the state secretariat, Alausa, promising that the state government would unravel the roots cause of the collapse.

The collapse, which involved a three-storey building that housed mainly pupils of a nursery and primary school, claimed at least 20 lives while 45 others sustained varying degrees of injury.

But at the inauguration Tuesday, the commissioner named a retired Permanent Secretary in the state, Mr. Wasiu Olokunola, as the chairman of the five-man panel.

The commissioner explained that the state government inaugurated the panel to investigate the cause of the collapsed structure as well as make appropriate recommendations in order to prevent such occurrence in the future

Inaugurating the panel, comprising professionals from the private sector and in the built environment, Ogunleye said the term of reference of the panel included to determine the immediate and remote cause of the collapsed building at 63 Massey Street, Ita Faji, Lagos Island.

Ogunleye said the panel was also to proffer remedial measures to stem further building collapse in the future, adding that the panel was also to determine the level of negligence on the part of the developer or owner and the role of the state government.

The commissioner added that the panel was to make recommendation for future efficient service delivery that would halt collapse of buildings in the state.

Ogunleye said the recommendation of the panel would be acted upon as government was determined to stem the tide of collapsed building in the state.

The commissioner disclosed that the panel had two weeks to submit its report to the government for prompt action.

Olokunola, chairman of the panel, said the panel would ensure it did a thorough job.