Musa, a motorcycle rider was riding toward Mile 2 on the Old Ojo Road near Alakija Bus Stop. Just before noon on Thursday June 25, 2026, he heard a loud noise behind him and when he turned around, a three-storey shopping complex had fallen.
The Lagos building collapse is a frequent issue which made Lagos one of the worst records of building collapses in Nigeria. It is often described as the ‘building collapse capital’ of the country due to rapid urbanization, weak regulation, and enforcement issues.
Lagos building collapse is due to substandard materials, faulty design, poor construction, weak foundations, adding extra floors beyond approved plans, lack of maintenance, and regulatory failures.
What Happened at Old Ojo Road Alakija on Thursday Morning
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency confirmed that at least 8 people have died and 26 others have been rescued after a three-storey building collapsed in the Alakija area of Lagos State on Thursday.
Multi-agency teams were immediately deployed which include Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Police, Nigerian Navy, Red Cross, and local volunteers.
According to LASEMA Permanent Secretary, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, he said the building located on Old Ojo Road by Alakija Bus Stop off the Lagos-Badagry Expressway in Satellite Town collapsed at about 11:37am which triggered a large-scale emergency response involving multiple agencies.
As of 4:20pm, a total of 26 persons have been rescued alive while 8 fatalities have been recorded including a baby girl.
The Baby Girl Among the Dead and the Human Faces of This Tragedy
In the tragic Lagos building collapse of the three-storey building at Old Ojo Road, Alakija, it struck a mixed residential and commercial building that housed shops and residents.
The presence of a baby girl and reports of other children among the rescued shows how entire families were affected. Some survivors included women with children pulled from the rubble. Many victims and survivors were likely small business operators and customers in the commercial spaces on the lower levels in other words, these are ordinary people trying to earn a living.
The human cost is heartbreaking as parents lose their children, families are being shattered, and survivors facing injuries and trauma. Eyewitness accounts describe chaotic scenes of people being pulled from debris, some alive and others not, with heavy rescue equipment like excavators deployed as operations continued into the evening and beyond.
The rescued victims sustained varying degrees of injuries and were handed over to medical personnel for treatment. Firefighters from the Ijegun-Egba Fire Station arrived within minutes of receiving the distress call at 11:37am and commenced with their search and rescue operations.
Final Thoughts Regarding Lagos Building Collapse
This incident follows a troubling pattern of structural failures across Nigeria. It comes just weeks after another three-storey building under construction partially collapsed on June 5, 2026 in the Lekki Phase 1 area of Lagos resulting in one fatality.
The reason why this pattern persists is because very few developers, contractors, or corrupt officials are prosecuted. This creates a culture of “get away with it.” Regulations exist on paper, but the system for approval, inspection, and enforcement does not work effectively.
The Lagos State Government should ensure immediate inspection of all multi-storey shopping complexes on the Lagos-Badagry corridor, prosecution of developers whose buildings collapse, and mandatory structural integrity certificates before buildings are occupied.
What do you think the Lagos State Government should do to stop buildings from collapsing on Nigerians? Tell us below.
EasySmallTalk covers politics, entertainment, health, lifestyle, and world news every day. Explore more stories on EasySmallTalk
