Lagos traders on Yuletide break l0se billions in high-rise !nferno

Lagos traders on Yuletide break lose billions in high-rise inferno

 

IBRAHIM ADAM writes that for many traders, particularly those who had travelled in hopes of returning to festive profits, this Yuletide will leave a bitter aftertaste as their means of livelihood went up in flames on Christmas Eve. For the families of those who lost their lives, the pain will linger far beyond the season

On Christmas Eve, as preparations for the festivities and last-minute trading peaked on Lagos Island, a raging fire tore through the 25-storey Great Nigeria Insurance House at No. 14 Martins Street.

Within minutes, the blaze spread to four adjoining buildings, turning one of the island’s busiest commercial corridors into a scene of devastation.

The inferno claimed at least three lives, left several people trapped, and destroyed goods and property estimated at billions of naira.

Fed by highly inflammable materials stored within the buildings, the fire quickly overwhelmed emergency responders, who struggled to gain access through narrow, congested streets.

The flames lit up the skyline and were visible from the Obalende Bridge. By the time the fire was brought under control, the plaza, three neighbouring buildings, and the old Lagos Central Mosque had suffered extensive damage.

The incident occurred barely three months after the deadly Afriland Tower fire, which claimed 10 lives, heightening public concern over fire safety in Lagos’ commercial hubs.

Eyewitnesses told Sunday PUNCH that the Martins Street fire started at about 4 p.m. on Wednesday, from the fourth floor of the high-rise building. The exact cause remains unknown.

The affected structures are largely commercial, housing traders dealing in clothing materials, shoes, bags, and other valuables.

As the wail of sirens pierced the air, panic spread through the area. Shops along Martins Street were shut, traffic heading towards Marina was diverted at Berlin Junction, and police cordoned off Breadfruit Street Junction and Oluwole Street to create access for emergency responders.

Our correspondent counted at least eight fire trucks shuttling repeatedly to replenish water supplies, battling both the flames and crowds of onlookers that clogged access routes.

Videos shared on social media from Wednesday evening into Thursday morning showed firefighters working relentlessly, even as the building continued to burn.

At about 11 p.m. on Wednesday, a section of the plaza collapsed into the mosque in front of it, crushing goods that traders had tried to salvage. Another part of the structure gave way in the early hours of Thursday.

Throughout the night, traders and residents remained awake, fearful that the fire would spread further. Some dashed into the smoke to retrieve belongings, while others later slept beside the items they managed to save.

Cracking sounds from the unstable structure repeatedly forced firefighters and security personnel to retreat to safer distances.

Emergency teams from the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Federal Fire Service, Federal Road Safety Corps, Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, the Red Cross, and the Nigeria Police were deployed to the scene.

Sunday PUNCH learnt that it took emergency responders more than an hour to access the building because roadside market stalls blocked entry points.

In a fire alert posted on X at 8:54 p.m. on Wednesday, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service said it received the distress call at 4:41 p.m. and arrived 12 minutes later, by which time the fire had already spread to the fifth floor.

 

History of fire

This was not the first inferno at the plaza. On November 4, 2013, a fire that started on the first floor around 6 a.m. spread through the building and raged for about 24 hours before it was fully extinguished.

The plaza is owned by Great Nigeria Insurance Plc, which was incorporated in 1960 and has undergone several ownership transitions over the decades.

 

Assessing the damage

In a situation report, the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said preliminary findings showed the fire originated from an apartment on the fourth floor before spreading rapidly upwards.

He disclosed that seven adult males sustained varying degrees of burns and were taken to hospitals, while three males and two females were treated on site for smoke inhalation and later discharged.

The Controller of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, said fire crews from the Ebute Elefun and Dolphin stations were first deployed, with reinforcements from Sari Iganmu, Bolade, Isolo, and the Alausa headquarters.

She explained that containment was delayed by poor storage practices, the presence of highly combustible materials, limited access, and the conjoined nature of the buildings.

“The affected buildings are predominantly warehouses with poor storage of highly combustible materials, which facilitated rapid fire spread and complicated suppression efforts,” Adeseye said, adding that five buildings were affected, two partially and three severely, including the old Lagos Central Mosque.

By Thursday, firefighters had brought the blaze under control and were engaged in damping-down operations to extinguish remaining pockets of fire.

Three corpses recovered

As of Saturday, the fourth day from the day of the incident, the total number of bodies recovered so far from the rubble by the LASEMA Response Team was three.

According to the agency, the corpse of an adult female was extricated from within the collapsed structure and handed over to her husband.

“One decapitated adult male was extricated with severed limbs, and one adult male was extricated with body intact. The total number of rescued victims as at the time of writing this report, 5pm on Saturday, is eight males rescued with various degrees of injuries and transported to the hospital (including a fireman)

“Five ‘walking wounded’, which comprises three males and two females who suffered minor injuries. They were administered first aid treatments and were subsequently released at the incident scene.

“Search and rescue efforts involving LASEMA Response Teams, NEMA, Red Cross and LASG Fire and Rescue Service are still ongoing, to locate other reportedly trapped victims in the affected building,” a statement by LASEMA said.

A LASEMA official, who spoke on Friday on condition of anonymity, said two corpses were recovered during search operations for trapped victims on that day.

“We recovered two bodies today. The first was found at about 11:03 a.m., while the second was recovered at about 12:03 p.m.,” the official said.

A video obtained by PUNCH Online showed five people conveying the bodies, which were later placed in body bags.

Although the identities of the deceased are yet to be confirmed, a trader, Zacchaeus Afolayan, said one of them was a market assistant caught in the incident.

“One of them was identified as one of the boys assisting traders in the market. He was helping traders move their goods when the building collapsed on him,” he said.

 

Four traders are sleeping on their retrieved goods
Several people are allegedly missing

A distraught shop owner said some of his friends were trapped inside the plaza.

Visibly shaken, he said he could no longer reach them on their phones and criticised what he described as inadequate firefighting efforts.

“They could have provided a helicopter to put out this fire. I have hundreds of millions of naira in that building, and the losses are unimaginable. Looking at the length of the hoses from the fire trucks to where the fire is burning, only a few firefighters were close enough to make any real impact,” he said.

Expressing further frustration, he added, “If family members begin searching for their loved ones, that is when the government will realise there are casualties. I informed them that my friends were trapped, and they said they could not ascertain if people were still inside. How is that possible in a situation like this?”

A TikToker identified as Dfwtoppestgurl also claimed her uncle was involved in the incident and remains missing.

“My uncle was involved. We still haven’t found him,” she wrote.

Similarly, an X user identified as Prince Tojah alleged that more than 20 people remained trapped.

“Please repost on all social media platforms. More than 20 people are still trapped under the collapsed building beside the Great Nigeria House, and the government is saying there are no casualties. My elder brother is still there, and nothing has been heard from him,” he wrote.

 

Goods worth billions destroyed

A shop owner, Opeyemi Bethel, told Sunday PUNCH that the 25-storey plaza housed numerous stores used by traders largely as warehouses.

She said goods such as shoes, bags, clothes, and children’s wear worth billions of naira were destroyed, noting that many traders were unable to retrieve their items as the fire spread rapidly.

“The plaza is where my cargo office is located. Most of us lost goods we couldn’t retrieve. Shoes, bags, clothes, children’s wear, everything was lost. We are talking about billions of naira, not millions. Most of the floors are used as warehouses filled with cartons of cargo,” she said.

Calling for urgent government intervention, Bethel said the recurring fire incidents on Lagos Island had made reforms unavoidable.

“Our government needs to do better. With fires happening almost every year, stricter safety measures are no longer optional. Lives were lost, and some people could not escape in time. Neighbouring buildings were also affected,” she said.

She stressed the need for better spacing between buildings and compulsory safety equipment before approval for commercial use.

“These buildings are too close to one another, which allows fires to spread easily. Something must be done, even if reconstruction will be difficult,” she added.

Another shop owner, Iya Oki, criticised the delayed arrival of fire trucks, saying it worsened the situation.

“I don’t understand why fire trucks arrived one after the other instead of in large numbers. When one truck runs out of water and leaves, the fire spreads further before another arrives. If more trucks had come at the same time, the fire could have been controlled faster,” she said.

She lamented that traders watched helplessly as their livelihoods went up in flames.

“We watched our investments burn to ashes, and all we can do is pray,” she added.

 

Bystanders hinder firefighting efforts

A resident, who identified herself as Kafila, blamed roadside trading and unruly crowd behaviour for delaying emergency response.

“Roadside sellers contributed to the delay. They blocked access routes for firefighters,” she told Sunday PUNCH.

She also criticised members of the public who prioritised filming the incident over safety.

“People were making live videos while the building was burning instead of helping. Many stood dangerously close and blocked the roads,” she said.

According to her, the chaotic environment made the work of emergency responders more difficult and left residents fearful that the fire could spread further.

 

Eyewitnesses recount moments of panic

Eyewitnesses described scenes of fear as sections of the building collapsed, forcing people to flee.

Adekunle Adeola, who said he was inside the plaza when the fire broke out, recounted the chaos.

“When the alarm was raised, we rushed out. Nobody expected it to escalate like this. One of the Chinese occupants kept asking us to call for a helicopter. He said he had never seen anything like it,” he said.

He recalled hearing cracking sounds moments before the collapse.

“Before the collapse on Wednesday night, we heard strange cracking sounds. When we heard the same sound again on Thursday morning, everyone ran. Some of us were recording videos, but we had to stop and run because the building was clearly unstable,” he said.

Another witness, Balogun, said some people attempted to steal from victims amid the confusion.

“Two people were caught trying to steal on Wednesday night. Many people lost their phones and personal belongings when parts of the building collapsed into the mosque. In the panic, people focused only on escaping,” he said.

Another eyewitness, Hakeem Adio, commended the firefighters but highlighted the difficulty of tackling the blaze.

“The firefighters tried, but the main source of the fire is deep inside the building, where goods are stored. That is why it has been difficult to put out. The structure is massive, and the fire is embedded within it,” he said.

A sympathiser, Foluso Adewunmi, warned that the structure had become dangerously unstable.

“The building is now weak, which explains why parts have collapsed. This is not the first time such an incident has occurred here, but this one is far more severe. Authorities must act quickly to prevent further damage and protect lives,” he said.

 

Combustible materials and clustered buildings worsen fire

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, visited the scene of the fire, accompanied by state officials and the Commissioner of Police, Olohundare Jimoh.

Speaking with journalists afterwards, Sanwo-Olu said the plaza, which had previously been affected by fire incidents, had been converted from an office complex into a storage warehouse for combustible materials.

He said preliminary findings suggested that carelessness and poor adherence to fire safety measures contributed to the blaze.

“While investigations are ongoing, initial reports point to carelessness and failure to follow safety precautions. People may be making end-of-year sales, but it must be done responsibly. Everyone needs to be alert to avoid exposing themselves and others to fire hazards,” he said.

Sanwo-Olu warned that the harmattan season significantly increases fire risks due to dry weather conditions, especially between November and February, and appealed for caution to prevent fire outbreaks.

“During this period, fire spreads more easily. The weather pushes flames faster. People must be extremely careful. We will intensify advocacy and communication to residents. Highly inflammable or combustible materials should not be stored indiscriminately. Any small spark can trigger a major fire, and the harmattan will spread it rapidly,” he said.

The governor sympathised with victims of the fire, assuring them of government support.

“It is unfortunate, and I want to sympathise with our people who may have lost one thing or the other. Government, as we have done before, will see how we can help mitigate some of these losses. I hope lessons will be learnt,” he said.

 

Government action

Sanwo-Olu announced the establishment of a committee, led by the Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations, Gbenga Oyerinde, to determine the safest way to demolish the plaza.

“I have set up a committee to recommend the best and safest method to bring down the entire building within the shortest possible time,” he said.

 

Advisory to landlords, occupants

The Operational Commander of the Federal Fire Service, Lagos Command, Musa Emmanuel, advised landlords and tenants to be fully aware of the type of goods stored in buildings they lease or occupy.

“If you are leasing out a building, you must know what kind of goods will be stored there. If the fire had involved less dangerous materials, it could have been extinguished earlier,” he said.

Emmanuel explained that the lack of information about the contents of the building complicated firefighting efforts.

“The difficulty we are facing is that we do not know exactly what is inside. Each time we try to suppress the fire, it resurfaces because of the materials involved,” he said.

He also lamented the close spacing of buildings, noting that it made containment unpredictable.

“We cannot say exactly when the fire will be completely out because the buildings are too close. Our priority is saving lives and property. The cause will be determined later,” he added.

 

Council chairman commiserates with shop owners

The Chairman of Lagos Island Local Government, Taiwo Oyekan, while commiserating with shop owners and other victims affected by the fire, assured them of the council’s support.