A tragic incident early Thursday morning left ten people dead and seven others injured after a building collapsed in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State.
The collapse occurred at about 2 a.m. in the Jegede Olunloyo area, located within Ona Ara Local Government Area.
The Oyo State Fire Services Agency confirmed the incident in a statement, explaining the extent of the disaster and ongoing rescue efforts.
A statement from the agency reads "The Oyo State Fire Services Agency received a distressed call at around 2 a.m. this morning at Jegede Olunloyo area, Ibadan, of which 10 persons have been recovered from the debris of the collapsed building, while seven persons were rescued alive. Rescue operation is still going on,"
Yemi Akinyinka, General Manager of Oyo State Fire Services, provided additional insights, expressing the scale and urgency of the response efforts. “We received a distress call from the people in the neighbourhood at 2 a.m.,” he stated. “When we got there, ten people died outrightly. Three people had been recovered before we got to the place, and our men recovered four. They are still working.”
Authorities indicate that the rescue teams are working tirelessly to search for any additional victims possibly trapped under the debris.
The incident comes on the heels of a similar tragedy in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, where another building collapsed over the weekend, claiming at least seven lives. According to the Abuja police, the structure, located in the Sabon-Lugbe area, had been partially demolished and weakened further by scavengers seeking scrap metal.
Police spokesperson Josephine Adeh confirmed that five individuals were rescued from the rubble on Sunday.
The prevalence of building collapses in Nigeria is a growing concern, with more than a dozen incidents recorded in the past two years.
Government officials and construction experts attribute these tragedies primarily to weak enforcement of building regulations, substandard materials, and inadequate structural maintenance.
According to the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, 22 building collapses were reported between January and July of this year alone.
One of the most devastating incidents occurred in July, when a two-story school building collapsed in Plateau State’s Busa Buji community, killing 22 students. The tragedy struck just as students, most of them aged 15 or younger, arrived at Saints Academy College for their classes.
