Esther Salifu
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency has disclosed that the Christ Embassy building that was destroyed by fire might be demolished for safety purposes .
The church which is located at Billings Way, Oregun, in the Ikeja area of Lagos State, was destroyed by fire in the early hours of Sunday,
LASEMA’s Permanent Secretary, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, revealed this to journalist while answering questions from them at the scene of the fire incident on Sunday.
Speaking on the incident, Oke-Osanyintolu disclosed that the intensity of the fire had caused cracks in the wall of the building, which therefore required that an integrity test be conducted on the building.
In his words, “We have seen a lot of structural defects; there are cracks on the walls, and we are carrying out evacuation so that the place will be safe.
“We will ensure to subject the building to an integrity test where we can determine the next line of action. We cannot demolish at this moment until an integrity test is carried out. If it is not safe, then we will take the next action.
“We are working with the church, and they have been cooperating with us, which is why we were able to swiftly combat the fire. We have the structural design of the building with us, we will investigate thoroughly to ascertain the cause of the fire.”
The Founder of Christ Embassy Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, during a live Sunday service at the church campground in Asese, Ogun State, disclosed that the fire incident at the church’s headquarters in Lagos is an opportunity to rebuild the razed building in a bigger and better way.
He noted that nothing happens in the life of a child of God by accident.
“During the 2001 Ikeja cantonment bombing incident, the building vibrated so much, that we thought it was going to collapse. I thought to myself that if it collapsed, I was going to build a bigger, better one.
“At the end of the day, it didn’t collapse, and we called the engineers to see if there was any need to bring it down and rebuild, but it was still okay.
Now that this has happened, we will build a bigger, better, and more glorious one, and the devil will lick his wounds”, he said.
The Head of the Search and Rescue Unit of the Lagos Territorial Office of the National Emergency Management Agency, Ibitayo Adenike, disclosed that the absence of worshippers at the time the fire started prevented casualties from occurring in the incident.
She said, “At the time of the fire, there were no worshippers in the building. There were only a few people who were having a meeting, which was what helped to prevent casualties that might have occurred with a crowd.”
