PANIC gripped residents of Oyingbo in Lagos State after a two-storey building collapsed in the early hours of Monday, October 27, trapping several occupants under the rubble.
The building, located at No. 54 Cole Street, near Cemetery Bus Stop, reportedly caved in around 12:20 a.m. while many of its residents were asleep. Officials of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service (LSFRS) said they received a distress call at the time of the incident and immediately dispatched firefighters from the Sari-Iganmu Fire Station to the site.
According to the LSFRS Director, Margaret Adeseye, at least 15 people have so far been rescued, including seven men, four women, and four children, all with varying degrees of injuries. The victims were taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Meta, and the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos Island, for treatment.
Adeseye confirmed that the building had earlier been marked as structurally distressed by safety officials, but occupants reportedly ignored evacuation notices before the structure eventually collapsed. She said search and rescue operations were ongoing as emergency teams continued to comb through the debris in search of those still missing.
“This is an ongoing rescue involving a two-storey building previously identified as distressed before collapsing on its occupants.
“Our teams, in collaboration with other emergency agencies, are on site to ensure all trapped persons are safely recovered,” she stated.
The collapse left the Oyingbo community in shock, with residents and sympathisers joining rescue workers in frantic efforts to save lives.
This latest incident adds to a long list of building collapses that have plagued Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub, despite repeated government interventions.
An ICIR investigation earlier in 2025 revealed that Lagos accounted for over 55 per cent of all building collapses in Nigeria since 1974. Between October 1974 and January 2025, at least 640 incidents were recorded nationwide, with more than half occurring in Lagos.
Experts have consistently blamed weak regulation, corruption, poor enforcement of safety standards, and the use of substandard materials for the recurring tragedies.
In September 2025, a similar collapse occurred in the Yaba district of Lagos, where a three-storey building under construction gave way, killing one person and injuring several others. Earlier in May, a two-storey building in Ikorodu killed three members of the same family during the Oro traditional festival.
In 2021, the state recorded one of its deadliest building disasters when a 21-storey high-rise in Ikoyi collapsed, killing 46 people, including the developer. Investigations later revealed that the building had exceeded the approved number of floors.
The ICIR’s findings show that while the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) was created to monitor construction and enforce standards, weak enforcement and corruption within regulatory bodies have allowed unsafe structures to remain occupied.
Experts argue that most collapses could have been prevented if the government had enforced its own regulations. Ayo Ibaru, Chief Executive of North Court Real Estate, said the recurring collapses pointed to “systemic failure and lack of accountability” within the building control system.
Reacting to recurring collapses, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu launched the Certified Accreditors Programme (CAP) in March 2025 to involve private sector experts in building inspections. The state has also intensified enforcement operations, sealed several non-compliant buildings, and increased public awareness campaigns on construction safety.
Sanwo-Olu’s Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Gboyega Akosile, said the government was committed to ensuring strict adherence to building regulations and will continue to penalise those who flout the law.
Despite these measures, experts believe that without sustained political will, transparent enforcement, and public accountability, Lagos may continue to record preventable building disasters.
As of the time of filing this report, rescue operations were still ongoing at the Oyingbo site, with emergency teams working with the hope of saving more lives.
A reporter with the ICIR
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