Eight people were rescued and nine others escaped unharmed when a three-storey building under construction collapsed in Jikwoyi Phase 1, Abuja, on Friday morning. The incident occurred at around 9:00 AM, trapping workers beneath the rubble. Emergency response teams from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Fire Service and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were quickly deployed to the site. Rescue operations lasted several hours as personnel used heavy machinery and manual tools to search for survivors. All those trapped were eventually accounted for, with no fatalities reported. The building was reportedly owned by a private developer and had been under construction for several months. Officials from the FCT Urban Development Board have launched an investigation into the cause of the collapse, including possible breaches of building codes. No arrests have been made, and the site has been cordoned off pending further assessment.
A building collapse in Abuja that nearly killed 17 workers points directly to failed oversight, not just bad luck. The FCT Urban Development Board, which is responsible for monitoring construction standards, has once again allowed a high-risk project to proceed without adequate checks. If past patterns hold, this investigation will end in silence and no one will be held accountable. For Nigerians, this means another near-miss becomes just another forgotten warning.
