The Lagos State Government has suspended the General Manager of the Lagos State Infrastructure and Asset Management Agency (LASIAMA), Adenike Adekanbi, for not properly overseeing the activities of the agency.
The suspension of the LASIAMA boss followed the death of a medical doctor, Vwaere Diaso, due to elevator collapse at the Lagos General Hospital, Odan, on August 1, 2023.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Olumide Sogunle, who made this known in a statement on Sunday, August 6, said the government also ordered that the facility managers be sacked and the firm blacklisted immediately.
Sogunle said these actions taken were necessitated by the findings of the panel set up to look into the likely causes, identify persons who might be culpable, and suggest ways of preventing any future occurrence of elevator accident.
The permanent secretary said for transparency, the membership of the panel included representatives of the Medical Guild and six representatives of House Officers.
He said based on the initial findings the Lagos State Government has instructed that the operations and line of reporting of the facility managers be restructured to involve the hospital management directly
According to him, the installation and maintenance contractors have been handed to the police for further investigation and likely prosecution, if they are found culpable.
Sogunle added: ”The police will also investigate anyone else that might have been found to be negligent. Engineers are working to unravel why all the safety devices of the elevator failed at the same time
”All our staff are fully insured; we have informed our life insurance providers about this incident.
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”The Lagos Safety Commission has been directed to immediately carry out an audit of all elevators in public offices. This is besides the usual safety arrangements that have always existed.”
Sogunle noted that the elevator that crashed was installed in 2021, adding that the elevator experts working with the Lagos Safety Commission have carried out an initial inspection and would be removing the elevator for further mechanical examination to determine why the safety features that would prevent this kind of accident.
According to him, their findings will determine if there is a case with the elevator installer.
He added: ”The Lagos State Government would like to, once again, acknowledge with deep regrets the unfortunate elevator accident of Tuesday, August 1, 2023, at the House Officer’s residence of the General Hospital, Odan, which resulted in the death of Dr Vwaere Diaso, a vibrant young house officer.
”We commiserate with her family and her colleagues and pray for the repose of her soul. As a government, we feel the pain of this irreparable loss. May The Almighty console them and give them the strength to go through this difficult time.”
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