Tragedy struck the Popo Giwa area of Ilorin, Kwara State, on Tuesday after part of a three-storey building collapsed, killing a mother and four of her children.
The incident occurred around 5am at No. 41 Popo Giwa Street, beside Gogoro Mosque, trapping eight members of the same family beneath the rubble.
Four victims were recovered dead while four others, including the father, were rescued alive following a frantic operation involving emergency responders and residents.
The Public Relations Officer of the Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, confirmed the casualty figures, saying the agency received a distress call shortly after the collapse and immediately deployed personnel to the scene.
Adekunle said the rescue operation required the combined efforts of several emergency agencies, with an excavator later brought in to remove the debris and create access to the trapped occupants.
An eyewitness and member of the rescue team, who identified himself as Abdul, described the operation as difficult, saying rescuers initially recovered the mother and her youngest child from beneath the rubble.
According to him, the child, believed to be between five and seven years old, was found dead on the mother’s chest after the building collapsed onto the bed where they were sleeping.
He said rescuers later heard the voice of the father, who had reportedly gone to the toilet to perform ablution before the collapse.
The rescuer explained that a wooden section of the old structure apparently prevented a heavy pillar from crushing the man, enabling the team to dig through the debris and pull him out.
Abdul further disclosed that the father is a serving military officer who was on medical leave at the time of the incident.
He added that the eldest daughter among the deceased was a student of Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, and was reportedly scheduled to begin her National Youth Service Corps programme on Thursday.
One of the children, identified as Firdaus, was among those rescued from the collapsed structure.
The Secretary of the Kwara State Emergency Management Agency, Magaji Saadudeen, confirmed that the eight victims were members of the same family.
He said the survivors were taken to a hospital for medical attention, while the remains of those who died were evacuated from the scene.
The Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Ojo Adekimi, said preliminary findings indicated that the collapsed section was the boys’ quarters of the three-storey building.
Adekimi said eight people were trapped when the section gave way, adding that occupants of the main building were evacuated as a precaution while authorities assessed the structural condition of the remaining part.
He said the situation had been brought under control, stressing that the safety of residents remained the priority.
The exact cause of the collapse was yet to be established as of the time of filing this report.
The Fire Service said a proper technical assessment would be conducted before determining what led to the structural failure.
Adekunle said authorities would communicate their findings after the assessment and take appropriate measures if the remaining structure was found to be unsafe.
Representing the Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, at the scene, the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Lawal Olohungbebe, described the incident as unfortunate and sympathised with the bereaved family.
Olohungbebe attributed part of the success recorded in the rescue operation to the accessibility of the road leading to the building, which allowed emergency personnel and equipment to reach the location.
He urged property owners and developers to comply strictly with building regulations and town planning requirements, particularly those relating to access roads and the safety of residential areas.
The Chairman of Ilorin West Local Government Area, AbdulRahman Babatunde Ladan, said between six and seven ambulances were deployed to evacuate victims from the scene.
Ladan urged residents to act promptly whenever they noticed cracks, structural defects or other warning signs in buildings, stressing that people should not wait until a collapse occurs before evacuating endangered structures.
Several agencies, including SEMA, the National Emergency Management Agency, the Kwara State Fire Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the police, Red Cross and health officials, took part in the rescue operation.I can also make it more punchy and dramatic in headline style, for example: “Ilorin Building Collapse: Mother, Four Children Killed as Structure Crushes Family at Dawn.”