Building Collapse in Wuse, Abuja: FCTA Clears Site, No Casualties Confirmed

By Maryanne Awuya

Property and commercial inventory valued in the millions of naira were destroyed on Monday evening following the collapse of a distressed three-storey structure along Abidjan Street in Wuse, Abuja.

According to emergency response officials, the incident—which occurred around 7:20 p.m.—resulted in no fatalities or trapped individuals.

 Local residents noted that the building originally operated as a hotel before being partitioned into commercial shops and residential apartments.

The disaster occurred just hours after officials from the FCT Department of Development Control sealed the property, marked it as structurally compromised, and issued an eviction directive to all occupants.

A joint multi-agency emergency taskforce co-led by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), FCT Emergency Management Department (FEMD), Federal Fire Service, Nigeria Police Force, and Civil Defence promptly mobilized to the scene to secure the area and execute rescue operations.

Speaking to Persecondnews, the Head of NEMA’s Abuja Operations Office, Zachari Abubakar, outlined the multi-agency coordination efforts at the collapse site.

“We are coordinating the search and rescue operation,” Abubakar told Persecondnews.

“As you can see, other agencies are here, so we are the ones coordinating the operation.

“And so far, nobody has been rescued out of the rubble; no trapped victim has been brought out of the building,” he explained.

“We are not saying that nobody is trapped in the building, but so far, the search is ongoing. We have not brought anyone out, and we don’t know whether people are still trapped inside. That is why we have to ensure that we continue with this operation to conclusion.”

Addressing questions regarding prior warnings or structural assessments before the collapse, Abubakar emphasized NEMA’s core mandate as a disaster management agency.

“We are not an enforcement agency,” Abubakar stated. “Our job is to manage the emergency. When an emergency happens, regardless of the cause or notification, we are expected to activate resources to respond to that emergency.”

“So we don’t have any prior information regarding what has happened. But as soon as the distress call came in at about 7 p.m. yesterday, my office was alerted and as quickly as possible, we activated all emergency stakeholders Nigeria Police, Civil Defence, FCT Fire Service, and my team from NEMA Emergency Response to be on the ground to coordinate the response,” he added.

Abubakar, however, reassured the public of the agency’s primary focus on saving lives.

 “The emphasis is on trapped victims if we have any, to bring them out, provide immediate medical services to stabilize them, and if there is any need to refer them to hospitals where they can get higher medical care to get that done.”