'Avoid this tragedy by hiring only experts' - engineers tell public

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According to national chairman, Robbie James Owivry, the recent Lekki building collapse stresses the need for due diligence while hiring, The Guardian reports.

READ: ‘Lekki incident could have been prevented if proper measures were taken’ – experts say

While addressing the press, Owivry sympathised with the affected families, then urged Nigerians to avoid more building collapses by always getting only professional help.

“In the aftermath of the recent collapse of last week, I feel a deep sense of bereavement at the unfortunate fate that befell the victims of that fatal occurrence. It was a rather disappointing and embarrassing experience that this sort of incidence should occur in a country that boasts of seasoned civil engineers who can hold their own anywhere in the world.

Nigeria has come a long way to be grappling with man-made problems of this nature. Not that anything is wrong with seeking the services of developers but not carrying out due thorough investigations on the profiles of patronized developers to ascertain if they have qualified civil engineers in their teams of project executors , cannot be overlooked.

Suffice it to say that Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers has a robust data base of qualified civil engineers that can be recommended for projects supervision and we are very much wiling to render the service of recommending civil engineers for construction projects at no cost," he said.

On Tuesday, March 8, 2016, a five-storey building collapsed,killing over 30 people.