Scene of the collapsed building in Yaba, Lagos
A three-storey building under construction in Yaba, a bustling suburb of Lagos, collapsed late Friday night, claiming the lives of two men and leaving an unknown number of others potentially trapped.
The tragedy, which unfolded at No. 333 Borno Street, Alagomeji, around 8:30 p.m., adds to the grim tally of building collapses that have plagued Nigeria’s commercial capital, where shoddy construction and lax regulation have turned urban growth into a recurring nightmare.
Acting Head of the National Emergency Management Agency’s Lagos Operations Office, Mrs. Ibitayo Adenike, confirmed the recovery of two male bodies from the rubble in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday.
Four survivors have been rescued and are receiving medical treatment, she said, but the full extent of the tragedy remains unclear.
“The search and rescue operation is still ongoing,” Adenike stated, adding that the number of people trapped cannot be determined until the structure is completely leveled.
NATIONAL ACCORD reports that Lagos, Africa’s most populous city, has long grappled with a deadly epidemic of building collapses. Over the past 12 years, at least 90 such incidents have occurred in the city, killing more than 350 people, according to the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria.
Nationwide, the Building Collapse Prevention Guild reports 653 collapses between 1974 and mid-2025, resulting in 1,616 deaths, with Lagos accounting for over 55% of these cases—348 in total.
This year alone, six collapses in the city have claimed 14 lives, deepening a housing crisis and displacing countless families. Experts point to substandard materials, weak regulatory oversight, and construction on unstable land as key culprits, transforming symbols of progress into scenes of devastation.
Emergency responders, including the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Lagos State Building Control Agency, and the Nigeria Police Force, are working tirelessly at the Yaba site.
As the rescue efforts continue, the incident underscores the urgent need for stricter enforcement of building codes to break Lagos’ cycle of tragedy.
With additional reports from NAN
