Building collapse: Town planners advocate death penalty for culprits

The Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) has advocated capital punishment for violators of building control standards to minimise building collapse.

NITP National President, Mr Nathaniel Atebije, made the call at the institute’s quarterly press conference in Abuja.

He said it was unacceptable that the country had recorded four building collapse disasters this year in FCT, Lagos, and Rivers states.

He said, “Information at our disposal gives indications of lowered professional standards, negligence on the side of professionals in the construction industry coupled with incompetence, multiplicity of authorities in charge of granting development permits, controlling and monitoring physical developments within urban areas and impunity.

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“This is inconsistent with established current international best practice. Effective measures must be established for city physical development administration.”

Atebije, therefore, called for stringent enforcement of city management and building control standards to curb incidents of building collapse.

“Let the authorities for once make offenders and violators face the wrath of the law with possibilities of capital punishment. This will possibly scare people in the production process of buildings and make them strictly comply with extant regulations,” he said.