Some residents of Cole Street in the Oyingbo area of Lagos State have claimed that occupants of a two-storey building, which collapsed and left one person dead and 26 others injured, ignored visible warning signs that the structure was in distress.
During a visit to the scene on Monday, PUNCH Metro gathered from multiple eyewitnesses that the building had long shown signs of weakness.
The collapse also destroyed several items, including crates of beer and motorcycles. Emergency teams from the Lagos State Building Control Agency, Red Cross, and Lagos Neighbourhood Security Corps were on site conducting rescue operations.
A shop owner in the building, identified as Mrs. Adaeze, said the authorities had repeatedly warned occupants to vacate the structure because it was unsafe.
She lamented that goods worth millions of naira were trapped beneath the rubble.
Adaeze said, “I was called in the middle of the night that the building had collapsed, and I had to rush down here. When I got here, I saw that my goods, worth millions of naira, were trapped under the building. Some of them have been destroyed.
“The government had been giving us notice to leave the place because the building is distressed, but the owner has not been cooperating.”
She appealed to the government for assistance to help cushion the financial loss.
Another resident, Habeeb Jamiu, said the collapse occurred shortly after a midnight rainfall. He noted that residents were alerted by the cries of trapped victims calling for help beneath the debris.
According to him, “I was awake and not far from this place when some others and I who were together learnt that a building had collapsed. It was immediately after the rain stopped around 1 a.m.
“When we got here, we heard the wailing of people and began to rescue them before the emergency responders came.
“It is true that the building was in distress. When you passed around the building, you would see signs of visible cracks that would make you wonder why they were still living there.”
Another witness, Hakeem Ibrahim, confirmed that the structure had shown clear signs of distress before the collapse. He expressed concern that some people might still be trapped beneath the rubble due to the number of residents in the building.
“I was at Roundabout when I saw police vehicles and an ambulance entering the area, which prompted me to follow them. When I got close, I heard people shouting that everyone should come out. When I got here, I saw that the building had collapsed.
“Some residents had begun rescuing some of the occupants before the emergency responders came. The building was indeed in distress,” he said.
At the hospital where the injured victims were taken, medical officials told reporters that the patients were not fit to speak with the media.
Earlier, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that one person had died while 26 survivors were rescued from the collapsed structure.
In an update, the Controller General of the agency, Margaret Adeseye, stated, “Update: One recovered dead as (survivors) rescued alive move to 26.” She added that the building had previously been identified as distressed before it gave way.
“It is an ongoing rescue involving an existing two-storey building which has reportedly been marked in distress before collapsing on the occupants,” the statement read.
The incident adds to the growing list of building collapses in Lagos this year. On September 25, six people were rescued after a two-storey building collapsed on Modupeola Street, Mangoro, in the Alimosho area. Similarly, on September 16, two construction workers were pulled out alive four days after a building collapsed in Ebute Metta.
These recurring incidents highlight the persistent challenge of building safety and enforcement in Lagos State.
