By Peter Onyekachukwu 
By Peter Onyekachukwu
Tragedy struck in the Otta-Ona area of Ikorodu, Lagos State, on Tuesday after a two-storey building under construction suddenly gave way, claiming the lives of three workers and leaving several others injured.
The victims—two adult men and a teenage girl—were reportedly working on the ground floor when the structure collapsed at about 2:00 p.m., sending panic through the neighbourhood and prompting an immediate emergency response.
Nine other persons were rescued alive with various degrees of injuries, while three others were safely pulled out without harm. The bodies of the deceased were recovered from the rubble by early Wednesday after hours of painstaking rescue efforts by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and other responders.
According to eyewitnesses, the loud sound of the collapse shook the area, drawing the attention of residents who joined emergency officials in the frantic rescue operation. “We heard a thunderous sound, and when we rushed out, we saw dust rising and people shouting for help,” said Chuka Nwafor, a resident in the area. “It was like something out of a nightmare.”
The Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, who led the rescue operation, confirmed the fatalities and said the bodies had been handed over to police officers from Igbogbo Division for further investigation.
“We recovered three bodies—two adult males and one teenage girl. Their remains have been handed over to the police to assist in the ongoing investigation into the cause of this unfortunate incident,” Oke-Osanyintolu said.
Preliminary information suggests the building was still under construction at the time of collapse, raising fresh concerns over compliance with structural safety standards in the state’s growing construction sector.
While the cause of the collapse is yet to be officially determined, experts and civil society groups are once again calling on regulatory authorities to clamp down on quack builders and enforce stringent monitoring of ongoing construction projects.
This incident is the latest in a troubling pattern of building collapses in Lagos, underscoring the urgent need for reform in Nigeria’s construction oversight mechanisms.