One worker has been confirmed dead and two others rescued after a two-storey building undergoing manual demolition partially collapsed at No. 42, Governors Road in the Aboru area of Alimosho Local Government Area, Lagos State.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Thursday, September 10, 2026, when the structure caved in unexpectedly, trapping site workers beneath heavy concrete debris.
Emergency teams deploy to site
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) received a distress call regarding the collapse at approximately 12:45 a.m. and dispatched its Alpha Eagle Response Team from the Cappa, Oshodi unit to the site.
Upon arrival, LASEMA activated the State Emergency Response Plan and established incident command alongside the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service and the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS).
Emergency responders successfully extricated two adult males alive from the rubble. LASAMBUS paramedics administered emergency first aid at the scene before transferring both survivors to a nearby hospital for treatment.
First responders subsequently recovered the body of a third worker from beneath the structural debris.
LASEMA Permanent Secretary Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu confirmed that security agencies and local community leaders cordoned off the perimeter to ensure safety and allow rescue equipment unhindered access. Oke-Osanyintolu urged property owners and developers to avoid manual or uncertified demolition practices, advising the public to report unsafe building operations using the state’s 767 or 112 emergency toll-free numbers.
Building safety enforcement and structural collapses in Lagos
Lagos State, Nigeria’s most populous urban center, has faced recurring structural failures linked to factors such as illegal construction, substandard building materials, aging infrastructure, and unauthorized manual demolitions.
Manual demolition—where workers use hand tools like sledgehammers to dismantle load-bearing walls—presents high risk when conducted without structural engineering assessments or mechanical machinery. In response to recurring building incidents across areas like Alimosho, Satellite Town, and Lagos Island, the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) and LASEMA have increased enforcement against illegal site modifications.
To address emergency response challenges across the metropolis, the Lagos State Government has decentralized LASEMA operations into multiple regional hubs—including Cappa-Oshodi, Lekki, and Ikorodu—aiming to maintain a target 10-minute response window for industrial accidents, fires, and structural collapses statewide.
Read Also: 15 rescued, many trapped, as two-storey building collapses in Lagos
