The Ebute-Meta Magistrate Court has remanded the Managing Director of Lekki Gardens, Mr. Nyong Richard, and a contractor, Odofin Taiwo, in police custody for their role in the collapse of a five-storey building in Lekki, Lagos.

The building, which was under construction had collapsed on Tuesday, killing 35 people and injuring several others.

Magistrate, Mrs. Afolashade Bokotu, ordered that Richard and Taiwo, who were brought to the court in handcuffs earlier today should be kept in police custody at the State Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba for the next 30 days, pending the conclusion of police investigation.

http://www.punchng.com/breaking-court-remands-lekki-gardens-md-contractor-over-building-collapse/

I said this in a previous thread and i am reposting what i think about Lekki Gardens. If we truely want to fight corruption, it should start with people like Richard Nyong and his band of greedy murderous Developers.

I have chosen not to talk about Lekki Gardens a long time ago when i investigated them and found so many illegal things they were doing. They used aggressive marketing to sway people to buy their substandard carcasses and made billions from them. They knew Nigerians like awoof and took advantage of their greed. A cursory inspection of their houses was glaring enough to see that these were substandard shell structures that violated so many rules of building but people chose to follow the cheapness and bonanza in exchange for pain.

Apart from the defects in their title and arrogance of the management when you tell them to produce documents to validate their claims, their contract of sale is nothing to write home about. It makes you a slave to the management and you can do very little about it. Thier service charges and outrageous bills made life very difficult for the subscribers and they have very poor customer service. Its all about the money.

I had a client who contracted me to investigate a property he paid for and what i discovered made me shudder at the magnitude of fraud and negligence practiced by Lekki Gardens behind the scenes. The company is more like a ponzi scheme where they advertise properties to buy into Phase 6 but they have not finished completing the houses paid for subscribers of phase 2. They use the money obtained from future subscribers to finish up the early subscribers and before they get to phase 6, they would have started marketing Phase 14. Its all about aggressively getting your money.

Those who had issues with them know the problems they are still encountering to get a refund. They have stringent clauses in their agreement that makes it very difficult to get a refund once you pay and it could take months or years before you see a percentage of it.

Lekki Gardens was a good idea but the greed of the promoters has led them to this quagmire. How can you remove the seal of the Government to stop work and continue the construction and expect to go Scot free? Underhand tactics and violations of building laws is a trade mark of Lekki Gardens. For those still subscribing, it best you struggle to get your money out now fast because the future looks bleak. For those who were thinking of buying into their schemes, better look else where unless your money would be used to settle the impending class action and wrongful death suits.

The death of the 30 people should not be washed away. This is not a case of fraud or negligence. People died because of their underhand tactics to get money at all cost.

rusher14:
Always get a good lawyer and not the average 'charge and bail '.

If in doubt ask TB Joshua how he did it.

TB Joshua's case is different from Richard's case in many ways and getting a good lawyer may not be sufficient. Don't be surprised that wole olaonipekun is playing both sides, everybody befriends the government. The best he may do is negotiate a soft landing for Richard. I don't know a lot about joshua's case but the little I know will suffice.

1. TB Joshua's prosecution started under an outgoing fashola while the current case is being prosecuted under a zealous ambode who is trying to impress lagosians .

2. TB Joshua didn't break government seal to resume work on his site but Richard did and that in itself is criminal. It's a clear case of involuntary manslaughter.

3.Why did the Lagos state government rush to give preliminary findings without waiting for full investigation? Is Akpabio behind LG has touted in many circles? If yes this may be an opportunity for an APC government led by ambode to attack his funding. If the APC have any axe to grind with akpabio this will be tough for Richard. If you doubt me check Dasuki vs Buhari.

4. Instead for Lekki Gardens to lay low, They were wrongfully advised to issue a false press release that was debunked by artisans who survived that collapse. Some of those artisans havent even been paid their wages for weeks . By doing that they destroyed any sympathy well meaning lagosians should have for them. Those facts will probably come up in court.Trust me public sympathy also matter in the dispense of justice.

I can go on and on but it won't bring back the dead. RIP to the dead,may every party involved learn a thing or two.

I just heard that "one man like that" just hired a 66-lawyers-team, I recommend that for the managing director and the contractor...

Jailing him will serve as a deterrent to others

Brings sanity to the construction industry. Low cost housing alternatives should be improved and more money for research. Proud architect.

30 days in panti....








Coming soon to a cinema near you....

wat sud i type sef

Chai

Handcuffs! Really..

What Lekki Gardens did was wrong, no doubt, but handcuffs!! Common!

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Chai

vanity upon vanity...

God will see you through# oga

People have been complaining about this same guy since, call this karma....

I love [size=15pt]Davide470[/size]

Good development.

This should serve as a deterrent to all the remaining robbers masquerading as real estate managers whose only goal is to fleece hardworking Nigerians of their hard-earned money. But seriously, I blame the Men and women that are going to pay for apartments that have been said to be built with inferior materials over and over again. One live matter let alone the over 30 lives that was lost in the unfortunate Incident. The is also a form of corruption and all well meaning Nigerians should condemn it with one voice.

But I ask, Why are they being charged in a magistrate court, why not a higher one?

Nice. Is AY still their Brand Ambassador!
Just asking.

A CHINESE EXAMPLE

Structural collapse attorneys note a satisfying conclusion to the story of a sudden, deadly collapse of an entire apartment block in Shanghai. A court in Shanghai, China convicted Que Jingde and Zhang Zhiqin for their roles in causing the collapse of a 13-story, newly completed apartment tower that fell on its side almost intact in June 2009.

Que and Zhang were the two largest shareholders in the Shanghai Meidu Real Estate firm involved in building the tower. Investigations regarding the apartment tower collapse found that the foundation of the structure suffered critical weaknesses because of the piling of excavated soil on one side and the digging of an underground parking garage by an unqualified contractor.

China Daily, a state-run media outlet, reported that the court convicted Que on one charge of graft and Zhang on multiple counts of:

Graft,
Embezzlement of corporate funds, and
Causing a serious accident.
The court sentenced Que Jingde and Zhang Zhiqin to life in prison and confiscated their personal assets. According to reports, Que possessed personal assets worth about $300,000 and Zhang possessed personal assets worth almost $750,000.

Our structural collapse attorneys wonder if the court’s strong sentence will send a message to the other builders throughout China engaged in constructing edifices and infrastructure at a record pace. Many worry that Chinese builders are ignoring sound building practices and safety standards, as well as using poor materials and unqualified contractors, in a rush to get things done. Such haste can only lead to further fatalities and debilitating injuries when the weak constructions fail.

Our structural collapse attorneys point out that any gains Que and Zhang might have reaped from their negligence relating to the apartment tower construction were short-lived. But they will pay for that negligence for the rest of their lives. Both of these men now have a lifetime to ruminate over the costs of hasty and shoddy construction.

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Modern China shouldn’t be either
http://www.denenapoints.com/costly-consequences-shoddy-construction-chinese-building-collapse/

rusher14:
[s]Always get a good lawyer and not the average 'charge and bail '.

If in doubt ask TB Joshua how he did it.

[/s]

Drdavidodavid:
God will see you through# oga

Nigerians and God this, God that. Did he remember God when the sealed building was broken? I also pray he survives this but let's be objective for once.

See as d guy in native resemble Peter of P square....abi na only me dey see am?

because of someone's negligence, 35 innocent lives were cut short. Corruption has eaten deep into our system.

The judiciary system is back to life

they are notorious for shoddy work

They should still charge tb joshua, what is good for goose is good for geese

god bless u my broad, wetin dey apen to Richard today na serious bad belle, I knew dz man very wel, atlst ah don chop ntin less dan 500k from dz man, i pray & i knw God wil help him out of dz mess, do you guys know how many millionaire wey dz guy don made? hez jst a young chap wit a good heart

Ah ha, this ones are not smiling because of the Handcuffs. It seems the only way criminals won't come to court smiling is to put them in handcuffs. Richard Nyong and Odofin Taiwo are already experiencing the change we voted for . #handcuffsthesmilekiller
Sai Buhari!! Sai Changi!!

Hmmmmm
They never learn. Don't place profits above lives.
I hope Richard will come out of this a very humble and godly man that he was before billions came. I hope he will henceforth value and reward Professionals to those quacks he helped to make multi-millionaires.
Let clients and buyers and developers everywhere put all their focus on the structural aspect (bones and muscle of the building) rather than on the finishes (the cosmetics and garments of the building).

Rest in peace to the dead.

Criminals are supposed to be in chains, that explain why he was in handcuffs.
He became a criminal when he kicked away govt restriction and committed greater offence for jeaopardizing lives. He should be charged with 2nd degree murder

The management of lekki gardens didnt take health safety and welfare of workers and the public serious. They didn't do all that was reasonable to avoid this accident which was preventable and avoidable considering the fact that they where warned not to go ahead with the construction because the area wasn't meant for a 5 storey building, the site was then sealed and the company went ahead and unlawfully continued with the construction and then we had such incidents that resulted in 35 fatalities and many others injured.

That is what you get when play negligent to your health safety environment and welfare responsibility as an employer.

The management should face the law and be made to pay every compensation and medical bills due to the victim of the accidents. At least other organizations would learn from this. I expect that more organizations who neglect health, safety environment and welfare be made to face the law.

As an employer you have three reasons for you to consider HSE which are Moral, Legal and Economic reasons. Lekki gardens have failed legally and morally and which would lead to them failing economically.

Neglect HSE invite ACCIDENT.

Accountability period.

itzsniper:
god bless u my broad, wetin dey apen to Richard today na serious bad belle, I knew dz man very wel, atlst ah don chop ntin less dan 500k from dz man, i pray & i knw God wil help him out of dz mess, do you guys know how many millionaire wey dz guy don made? hez jst a young chap wit a good heart

Instead of you to help am arrange bail, u dey here. The guy don dey chop iron beans o!