A mother and her 14-year-old daughter have died after a three-storey building under construction collapsed in Okpoko, Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, despite an earlier stop-work order by the state government.
The incident occurred at about 9.45 pm on Wednesday at Anata Anaba, trapping the woman and her daughter inside their apartment in a neighbouring bungalow.
Other people trapped in the rubble were rescued by emergency responders and taken to hospital, according to eyewitnesses.
Residents said the building made a loud noise and its walls began cracking before the structure collapsed, triggering panic in the neighbourhood.
The woman's son, identified as Chimobi, said three members of the family were inside the apartment when the building came down. He said he was outside at the time, while his mother and sister were in a bedroom.
“My mother and my sister were in the bedroom when the building collapsed directly on them, leaving them with no opportunity to escape,” he said.
Chimobi alleged that residents had repeatedly warned the builder about the danger posed by the construction, but their concerns were ignored.
Some residents also claimed that the waterlogged nature of the land made it unsuitable for a three-storey structure. They alleged that an engineer who initially handled the project had recommended limiting it to two floors, but another engineer was later engaged to continue the construction.
Confirming the incident on Thursday, the Anambra State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Chijioke Ojukwu, blamed the collapse on substandard building materials and negligence.
Ojukwu, who visited the scene with the member representing Ogbaru One Constituency in the State House of Assembly, Noble Igwe, said the structure was illegal and that the government had previously ordered work to stop.
“The structure was an illegal building and we had ordered its demolition, and the land is going to be forfeited to the state government,” the commissioner said.
He added that the government was investigating other unapproved buildings under construction in the area.
The latest incident adds to concerns over building safety and enforcement of construction regulations in Nigeria.
In September, one person died and two others were rescued after a two-storey building undergoing manual demolition collapsed in the Aboru area of Lagos State.
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said its response team was deployed after receiving a distress call.
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