3rd November, 2021
By Collins Yakubu-Hammer
The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development has directed the mobilisation of immediate emergency response toward rescue operations at the site of the 21-Storey building which collapsed on Monday in Lagos.
Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq, the minister, made this known in a statement by Mrs Nneka Anibeze, the Special Assistant on Media to the minister on Wednesday.
Farouq said: “This is tragic. I sympathise with the Lagos government and the families of people still trapped inside the rubble.
“We have mobilised immediate rescue operations through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) team from the Lagos Territorial Office to team up with the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
“NEMA has also facilitated the mobilisation of response involving heavy-duty equipment for rescue operations and security for crowd control.
“We pray that through the rescue operatives still on ground at the site, many of those trapped will be rescued,” Farouq said.
Many are still feared trapped in the rubble of the collapsed 21 storey building.
NAN reports that the owner of the structure was given the approval to build a 15-story building, but instead, he changed it to a 21-storey.