Lagos: 19 buildings collapse in less than 25 months, dozens killed

With the collapse of another building on Thursday, September 23 in Mushin area of Lagos state, it now brings to 19 the total number of buildings that have suddenly collapsed in the last 25-months months, and a recorded fatalities of 84.

At the scene of the latest incident, two women are said to be trapped under the rubbles, while another two have been rescued so far.

Breakdown shows that three cases were recorded in 2020, six in 2021, while nine cases occurred in 2022, plus this recent collapse in Mushin, taking the totals now to 19.

Due to neglect, a storey building at No. 26 Afolabi Alasia Street, Gaskiya Road, Ijora-Badia, Lagos State, partially collapsed on September 10, 2020. Nine days later, another three-story structure housing the private Excel College in Ejigbo collapsed.

In October, 11, 2020 four persons lost their lives, while eight others sustained various degrees of injuries when a three-storey building that was still under construction caved in on Lagos Island.

On May 4, 2021, tragedy struck once more as a house at the Mounted Troop Police Barracks in Ikeja partially collapsed, leaving one person dead and another injured.

READ ALSO: Update: Two women trapped as another building collapses in Lagos

A five-year-old was killed after a three-story building collapsed on July 8, 2021, at No. 19, Church Street, off Adeniji Adele Street, Lagos Island, while the other tenants managed to flee.

Pastor Daniel Obasi, the owner of a two-story building under construction located at 77, Tapa Road, Oke-Ojo, Isawo in Ikorodu, Lagos State, passed away in the ruins of his home on the 20th of the same month.

On November 1, 2021, a 21-story building on Gerrard Road in Ikoyi collapsed, killing 46 people, including the building’s developer, Femi Osibona, making it the deadliest event during the time period.

The owner of the building being built in Ikoyi reportedly had permission to build only 15 floors but increased the height of the building to 21 floors.

However, barely 24 hours after the collapse of the 21-storey building, a two-storey edifice under construction at Osapa London area of Lekki partially caved in following a heavy rainfall.

Seventeen days after the Ikoyi catastrophe, precisely on November 17, 2021, another two-storey building under construction around Magbon in the Badagry area of the state collapsed, killing four construction workers.

READ ALSO: Three die in fresh building collapse

Similarly, a three-storey building under construction at Akanbi Crescent, in the Yaba area of Lagos, collapsed on February 12, 2022, killing five people in the process.

Disaster struck again on May 1, 2022, Workers Day, on Ibadan Street, Ebute-Metta area, when 10 tenants lost their lives after a three-storey building collapse.

About 24 persons were also rescued from the rubble of the collapsed building with various degrees of injuries while properties worth millions of naira were destroyed.

On May 7, another two-storey building collapsed on Chris Igadi Street, opposite Kilimanjaro, off Ago Palace Way.

In the same month, exactly 21st, a three storey building under construction at Alayaki Lane, Lagos Island, collapsed during a downpour, killing four persons while five others sustained various injuries.

On Sunday, April 24, the Deeper Life Bible Church auditorium located in Iragbo community in Badagry, collapsed during the church service after a heavy rainfall, leaving six people with serious injuries.

Another church, Redeemed Christian Church of God in a three-storey building under construction at Mushin area of Lagos, also caved in at about 6.30 pm on Friday, July 1, 2022.

Recently, on August 21, 2022, a tank scaffolding of a two-storey building under renovation at Lady-Lark, Bariga, Lagos State, came down on a bungalow and claimed the lives of two boys; 13-year-old Ayomide Adedeji, and 27-year-old Oluwatosin David, while their mother, Olaoye Funmisho’s, and 30-year-old Kudirat Azeez,  survived the incident.

The multiple building collapses in Nigeria’s commercial hub within the last few years, experts say, is unconnected to the lack of effective monitoring by the government.