Building Collapses in Lagos resulting in high death toll.

 

Lagos residents were rescued from the rubble following an uncompleted building collapsing in Ikorodu, Lagos The cause of the collapse could not be immediately ascertained, but it was gathered that it caved in on Tuesday afternoon, May 27 Recently, the Lagos state government issued a stern directive mandating property owners to acquire a certificate of completion and fitness for habitation for their buildings.

Ikorodu, Lagos state - Panic gripped residents of Ota-Ona area in Ikorodu, Lagos state, on Tuesday afternoon, May 27. As reported by Vanguard, the incident occurred when an unfinished two-storey building suddenly collapsed, with many feared trapped beneath the debris. The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) confirmed that one person had been recovered dead from the rubble. It was gathered that the structure, located directly opposite the Mobil Filling Station (formerly Bugon Filling Station), gave way unexpectedly, leaving an unknown number of individuals caught in the rubble. 

As of the time of this report, about five victims have been rescued alive, but the exact number of those still trapped remains unknown. Rescue operations are ongoing, with emergency teams working tirelessly to search through the debris. The actual cause of the collapse has yet to be officially determined. In 2024, a building collapsed in Lagos once every two weeks on average. Whereas the commercial cost can be calculated, a figure can never be put on the value of the lives lost underneath the rubble. The gaps among the buildings, replaced by piles of debris, represent a failure of governance as well as giving rise to allegations of contractors trying to cut corners to save money. There are regulations, there are maintenance schedules, there are inspectors – but the system does not work. 

Lagos, dubbed by an expert as " the building-collapse capital of Nigeria", has seen at least 90 buildings collapse in the last 13 years, leaving more than 350 people dead, according to the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN). Lagos reads riot act to building owners Meanwhile, the Lagos state government on Monday, May 26, frowned at the nonchalant attitude of property owners in the state to apply for Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) on their property, saying obtaining C of O is a good way to secure their property. This was stated by Olajide Babatunde, the special adviser to the state governor on Enterprise Geographic Information System e-GIS and regional planning, at a press briefing held at Alausa to mark the second year of the second term of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.