Lagos State has recorded a staggering 115 incidents of building collapse within the last 10 years, findings by The Dejoymedia have revealed.
This is according to data sourced from the Lagos State branch of the Building Collapse Prevention Guild.
According to documents obtained by our correspondent, 2020 and 2022 recorded the highest number of building collapse incidents in the last decade, each with 20 different cases.
This was closely followed by 2019 and 2013, which recorded 17 and 16 different cases respectively.
The years, 2016 and 2018, had the least cases of building collapse incidents during this period, recording a total of three incidents within the two years.
While a number of building collapse incidents recorded zero fatalities, others saw scores of people perish beneath the rubble, notably the collapse of a 21-storey building located at Gerard Road, Ikoyi, which collapsed on November 1, 2021.
The collapsed 21-floor skyscraper, owned by Fourscore Heights Limited, trapped over 50 persons, including the firm’s Managing Director, Femi Osibona; his friend, a United States of America-based Nigerian businessman, Wale Bob-Oseni; his personal assistant, Onyinye Enekwe, and clients.
About 45 persons were said to have died as a result of the incident. Nine survivors were rescued from the rubble, while some artisans working in the building before it collapsed could not be found underneath the debris.
Closely following the Ikoyi building collapse in terms of the reported number of casualties was the Lekki Gardens building collapse, which occurred on March 8, 2016, claiming at least 35 lives in the process.
Lekki Gardens Estate had reported that five people died in the incident after the collapse as against the official figure of 34 casualties.
According to the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, between January and July 2022, Lagos recorded 24 cases of total building collapse, six partial collapses and one impending collapse. Eighty-four Lagosians were killed in building collapse incidents in the last two years.
Some of the notable building collapses in the state this year have included the Yaba building collapse, which occurred on February 12, 2022.
