On 1 November 2021, a high-rise block of luxury

flats Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

under construction in the neighbourhood of Ikoyi in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

, Nigeria, collapsed. At least 42 people died. A rescue effort is ongoing, and the government of

Lagos State Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, states, it is both the List of Nigerian states by population, most populous and List of Nigerian state ...

is conducting an investigation.

Background

Fourscore Homes Limited, based in the neighbourhood of Ikoyi in Lagos, Nigeria, financed and was undertaking (including having commissioned subcontractors for) the construction of a trio of highrise buildings at 44BCD (or 20) Gerrard Road in Ikoyi, known as the 360 Degrees Towers. The company was headed by the Nigerian developer Femi Osibona. Osibona had previously worked as a shoe salesman, and had developed properties at Albion Drive,

Hackney, London Hackney is a district in East London, England, forming around two-thirds of the area of the modern London Borough of Hackney, to which it gives its name. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Charing Cross and includes part of the Queen E ...

, in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia, and near

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, South Africa. He was an

evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...

and a member of the Celestial Church of Christ. Osibona was educated at

Mayflower School Mayflower School was founded on 27 January 1956 by Tai Solarin, a Nigerian educator, humanist and civil rights pioneer, who was married to Sheila Mary Tuer, an English woman; they had two children Corin and Tunde Solarin. The school is located on ...

, Ikenne, and then took an

HND HND or H&D may refer to: Transport * Haneda Airport, serving Tokyo, Japan * Hanborough railway station, in England * Henderson Executive Airport, in Nevada, United States * Hinterland Aviation, an Australian airline Other uses * Croatian Journ ...

in business and finance, reportedly at Croydon University in the UK. One of the buildings was a 21-storey luxury residential high-rise tower, and it was this building that collapsed. In February 2020, the consultancy firm Prowess Engineering Limited withdrew from the project over concerns regarding the integrity of the building. The Lagos State Building Control Agency had approved plans for 15 floors, but 21 had been constructed.

Collapse

The collapse of one of the three 360 Degrees Towers occurred at 14:45

West Africa Time West Africa Time, or WAT, is a time zone used in west-central Africa. West Africa Time is one hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC+01:00), which aligns it with Central European Time (CET) during winter, and Western European Summer Time ...

(

UTC+1 UTC+01:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +01:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+01:00. This time is used in: *Central European Time *West Africa Time *Western European Summer Time ** B ...

) on 1 November 2021. As of 6 November, 42 people have been confirmed dead. An early official estimate stated that up to 40 workers were on the construction site at the time. Osibona was also at the site, and died in the collapse. His body was recovered on 4 November.The Lagos state emergency agency stated that eight people were critically injured. A rescue effort is being conducted by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Lagos State, and other responders. The effort is supervised by the Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations, and the

Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development The Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development is the state government ministry, charged with the responsibility to plan, devise and implement the state policies on Physical Planning and Urban Development. The ministry is head ...

. According NEMA, the military is scheduled to "take over operations". As of 6 November, 15 people had been rescued. As of 3, November, Lagos State governor

Babajide Sanwo-Olu Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu (born 25 June 1968) is a Nigerian politician and the current Governor of Lagos State. He became governor under the platform of the All Progressives Congress after contesting and unexpectedly winning the gubernatorial p ...

said that the search was ongoing.

Investigation

Gbolahan Oki, the general manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, announced on 2 November that the owner of the building has been arrested and would be prosecuted. The state government suspended the chief architect, and is conducting an investigation through an independent panel, which has been allotted 30 days to disclose findings.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lagos high-rise collapse, 2021 2021 disasters in Nigeria 21st century in Lagos Building collapses in 2021 Building collapses in Nigeria Disasters in Lagos State

Building collapse Structural integrity and failure is an aspect of engineering that deals with the ability of a structure to support a designed structural load (weight, force, etc.) without breaking and includes the study of past structural failures in order to ...

Lagos Island November 2021 events in Nigeria

Background

Collapse

Investigation

See also

Notes

References