Thursday, June 26, was another black day in Lagos. A day that began like any other, but by midday was wrapped in torment of misery and sadness for many families.
A two-story building at the Alakija Bus Stop, on Old Ojo Road in Satellite Town, Oriade Local Council Development Area, LCDA, Lagos State, collapsed unexpectedly, killing nine people. It did, in fact, create an endless nightmare for scores of families, friends, and well-wishers.
According to a statement issued by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), 27 people were rescued and transported to a hospital for treatment after rescue efforts were completed at the site.
“The LASEMA Response Team, sister agencies, and members of the community worked together to save twenty-seven people.
“Victims received immediate pre-hospital care from LASAMBUS and were transferred to nearby hospitals for further treatment,” LASEMA Head of Public Affairs, Afolabi Olawale, said.
“Nine deaths were found, including four people who were proven dead before responders arrived, as well as five other victims, including a two-year-old newborn girl.
“All deceased were respectfully bagged and handed over to the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit, SEHMU, for identification and onward release to families,” it said.
According to LASEMA, the rescue operations on the ground were led by its “Director of Operations, Olanrewaju Akinsanya, and Cappa Base Coordinator, Salami.”
“LASEMA’s heavy-duty excavator was deployed to augment two CCECC excavators already on site, enabling safe access to trapped victims and accelerating the operation to ground zero,” it stated.
Following the event, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu asked the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) to conduct an emergency structural integrity examination of adjacent structures and enforce compliance with building codes in the region.
The event took place less than 24 hours after another building collapsed in Rivers State.
The Rivers State event involved a four-story building that is currently under construction on Peter Odili Road.
Several workers were trapped under debris, prompting a massive rescue operation including emergency services and security forces.
Three people were rescued and transported to local hospitals for treatment.
Indeed, cases of building collapse have grown common throughout the country. The situation has deteriorated to the point that whoever wakes up healthy in the morning and departs to work may not return home alive.
Some others will remain in their homes till death comes calling. It’s that horrible.
A sympathiser at the scene of the Alakija tragedy described the situation as follows: “They leave home in search of daily bread. They say goodbye to their children and loved ones before leaving for work. Most of the time, they had no idea they were saying their final goodbyes since they never returned alive.
“They work on construction projects across the country. Others die in the comfort of their own homes as a result of poorly constructed constructions.
Experts have attributed the increasing number of structural collapses to a variety of issues, including faulty building materials.
Anthony Chukwudi, an estate agent, characterized the epidemic as a nightmare that refused to go away.
He stated: “In recent years, the threat of building collapse has emerged as one of the country’s most serious concerns. The list of such instances in Nigeria is limitless.
“Some people claim that a building collapses somewhere in Nigeria every week, although the majority of them are not publicized.
“However, more worrisome is the fact that each time it happened, promises would be made by the government to look into the cause of the incident and punish offenders, but it never stopped.”
He also chastised non-professionals who, rather than advising their clients on the best course of action, would turn a blind eye as long as they made money.
He went on to say that the government is the third party to accept responsibility, but he emphasized that individuals do their tasks first.
He stated, “It is expected that before building, you obtain government approval, but most people do not do so. They just go ahead and start building.
“And when the government agencies responsible for enforcement get to know, they are bribed, and they allow work on such buildings that, most often, do not meet the required standard to go on.”
He recommended that builders recognize that when specialists provide guidance, it is not only for show, emphasizing that “they do so because they are professionals who want to avert future disaster, which always comes in the form of building collapse.”
