*20 rescued, five die in Lagos building collapse
*Community leader blames LASBCA
*Staff order back inside ill ill-fated building
There is fear that more bodies could still be buried under the rubble of the two-storey building that collapsed in Ojodu Berger on Saturday, April 19, 2025, as stench from human remains filled the scene.
A total of 20 victims were rescued alive by the building occupied by Equal Right Restaurant, while five dead bodies were recovered as of yesterday.
The bodies of three females and two adult males were recovered after a three-storey building collapsed in Oremeta Street, Ojodu Berger area of Lagos State.
It was alleged that the manager of Equal Right Restaurant ordered staff to go back in to get some of the property out while the building was on the verge of collapse, and they got trapped in the process.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) rescued 13 persons alive on Saturday, while pulling out one person dead, but the figure increased on Sunday.
The structure was undergoing construction work at the time of the incident.
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Permanent Secretary, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said: “All first responders remain on the scene to continue search and rescue operations.
The cause of the collapse remains undetermined, but residents say they had long raised concerns about the structural integrity of the building.
LASEMA has attributed the incident to unapproved structural modifications.
“It was an old building converted into an eatery. Additional construction had been carried out on it before the structure finally collapsed,”.
Speaking with The Guardian, Chairman, All Ojodu Communities Development Association, Alhaji Abdulganiu Sani, said: “I wasn’t aware of the state of the building before it collapsed but I was called when the incident happened while I was preparing to travel and we called ambulance and the Police to be at the scene.
When asked what the body is doing to join government efforts to prevent building collapse, he said: “This is not our job but that of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), who have the role to mark substandard buildings for demolition but they failed. If LASBCA had done a proper job, this won’t happen.
