Nine dead in Lagos building collapse as governor orders safety inspections

At least nine people were killed and 27 rescued with injuries when a three‑storey residential building collapsed in Lagos’s Alakija neighbourhood near the Lagos‑Badagry Expressway. The cause of the collapse is still under investigation, but officials note that rapid urbanisation, substandard construction materials and weak regulatory enforcement have made such incidents common in Nigeria’s financial capital.

Rescue operations were carried out by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service. By the following morning the agencies announced the end of rescue efforts, having recovered nine bodies, including a two‑year‑old girl. Governor Babajide Sanwo‑Olu directed the Lagos State Building Control Agency to conduct structural integrity assessments of adjacent buildings and to enforce compliance with building codes in the area.