Nation
10 Die, 28 Rescued In Lagos Building Collapse
Ten persons comprising five men, four females and a four-year-old boy were confirmed dead on Monday following the collapse of a three-storey building in Lagos on Sunday.
Twenty-eight others were rescued from the debris.
The building located at the popular Ibadan Street, Ebute Meta, a densely populated neighborhood, caved in around 9.48pm on Sunday.
A bread seller, her adult foster son, a young man, his mother, an aged man with hearing impairment, a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Oluwakemi, an unnamed elderly woman and her child were among those recovered dead from underneath the rubble by emergency responders who worked overnight at the scene.
Two more bodies were pulled later from the rubble.
A lady, who died in the building, was said to have first come out before going back to fetch her phone, and was crushed by the collapsing structure.
It was gathered that seven of those rescued alive were children, while most of the 24 survivors sustained minor injuries.
A survivor, Goke Ogunbambi, said he was sleeping on the topmost floor when the building collapsed.
Ogunbambi, a civil engineer, had lived in the compound for a decade.
“I am a spinal injury patient. I was asleep around 9:30pm when I heard the noise, I imagined that the building was collapsing and I was naked. When we got to the ground, people came to rescue me. I was with my woman when it happened,” he said.
An inconsolable man, who lost his wife and son in the building, said he and his family were on about moving out, and were only waiting for the tiling work in the new place to be completed, when the building fell.
He said he was returning from the new house when he heard about the collapse.
According to eye witnesses, the building caved in while some of the occupants were observing their Salat prayers.
It was learnt that the structure had been defective for over a year and showed obvious signs of danger but the occupants ignored them.
It was alleged that the landlord’s son, Soji Dosunmu, who was in charge of the building, also issued quit notices to all tenants and moved out of the property to a rented apartment.
It was further said that the developer failed to carry out repairs on the property, as instructed by the owners.
However, while of the tenants vacated the structure, others refused to leave especially as they were no longer paying rent
A nearby neighbour, Omotola Gabriel, said it was a common knowledge to most residents that the building would collapse soon.
“I had just finished taking my dinner when the atmosphere of the neighbouring building went dark and by the time we looked towards the direction to find out why, we were told that the building had collapsed and we rushed to the scene only to find out that some occupants had been trapped,” she said.
A resident, Dr. Olarenwaju Ayade, described the incident as saddening.
“The rescue team came around early. We rescued about 10 victims initially and they were taken to our local health centre. The building has been here for over 10 years. The rescue team has been here since last night and they have not even blinked,” he said.
The Alliance Française Port Harcourt in conjunction with the Embassy of France Nigeria over the weekend joined the globe to campaign against the 2025 gender- based violence (GBV) with the theme: “16 Days of Activism Against Gender- Based Voice”
The event which took place at the event Hall of the Alliance Française Port Harcourt was in collaboration with the Female in Gaming Network, ( FIGN) and partnership with Nexal a body that seeks to promote online safety and responsible digital behaviour.
The Tide reports that the project which was aimed at promoting digital safety and girls inclusion in Gaming, with the initiative tagged ‘Gameover Gender- Base Violence’was part of the global campaign against gender- based Violence.
The activity which experienced a flavour of festivity was full of fun and excitements as participants took part in tournaments on popular digital games such as Mario kart and EAFC 25, with an intent to creating safer and more inclusive digital spaces.
The Director of the Alliance Française Port Harcourt, Mrs Marina Lacal said that these activities were designed to encourage inclusion of girls, team work and fair play on online gaming spaces, saying that the gaming world reflects these inequalities, where female players are often under represented.
According to her the main objectives of the initiative was to provide a supportive environment for girls and female in gaming network.
“GameOverGBV” is a project created to reshape this landscape by offering an innovative inclusiveness of girls on online digital Gaming community and digital environments that provide opportunities for creativity, learning and connection, but also fight against Gender-Based Violence Digital Gaming,”she said
She however, explained that the Digital Game, sport competitions, was launched to strengthen social and digital skills through games, workshops, and raise awareness among all young participants about respect, equality and digital citizenship.
The Tide News reports that in Port Harcourt, the competition brought together 100 young participants from three major universities: University of Port Harcourt, ( UNIPORT),Ignatius Ajuru University of Education(IAUE) and Rivers State University (RSU)as well as students from four selected secondary schools, Oginigba comprehensive Secondary.School, Vine lnternational, Virgo predicanda lnternational, and Excellent Montessori Secondary school.
“This is an approach where girls and boys can learn, play and collaborate in a more respectful and safe space for young women, while ensuring a safe, enjoyable and respectful digital environment. It also expose young women to cyberbullying, exclusion, sexist comments and online hate,” Mrs. Lacal said.
Earlier, a game developer Sophia Nei and her. team had engaged participants in an interactive session with the theme: “Can Video Games Be Safe Spaces For Girls?”
However, Mrs Nei and her team educated the girls on the benefits and violence on online digital gaming and urged them ( participants)to learn to say ‘No’ to Online hate, sexist and cyber bullying, while encouraging them(students) to stand up for themselves by reporting such issues to the appropriate authority.
Highlight of the competition was the awarding of prizes to winners by the Director of Alliance Française, Mrs Marina Lacal.
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