Urgent warning issued as buildings begin randomly collapsing throughout complete nation

An urgent warning has been issued as buildings start to collapse at random across an entire county.

Nigeria’s government has put out a desperate appeal to member of the Nigeria Institute of Civil Engineering (NICE) to find a solution to the terrifying problem.

In October this year a building collapsed in suburban Lagos, killing seven people, while 21 people died after a school building collapsed in central Nigeria in July, while students sat an exam. The BBC reported that a building has collapsed on average every two weeks in Lagos this year.

READ MORE: Filthy, rubbish-strewn house goes under the hammer as potential ‘pleasant family home’

Click here for the latest headlines from the Daily Star.

Regional Development Minister Abubakar Momoh expressed concern on behalf of the government at the the 22nd international civil engineering conference and this year’s annual general meeting (AGM) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Momoh praised NICE for upholding standards of excellence and organising the conference, but expressed grave concern about the string of building collapses across the country, reports The Nation.

He said: “The Ministry of Regional Development, which was formally the Ministry of Niger Delta Development, is open for collaboration with the Civil Engineers in Nigeria. That at any time, the door is open for exchange of knowledge on technical matters.”

In response, NICE National Chairman Dr Virgilus Ezugu said that he oversaw a NICE-produced handbook against building collapse.

Ezugu said: “In addition to the professional development, the Nigeria Institution of Civil Engineers has been actively engaged in advocating for the advancement of infrastructure development in Nigeria.

“Through our advocacy efforts, we have worked closely with government agencies, regulatory bodies, and other stakeholders to promote policies that support sustainable and resilient infrastructure projects.”

Ezugu added that the engineering body’s advocacy had been “instrumental” in championing the importance of “quality infrastructure” when it comes to “driving economy growth, improving lives, and enhancing the overall well-being” of Nigerian society.

He continued: “In line with this, a workshop on Building Collapse Prevention was held in Abuja. Through this effort, we have developed a handbook to bring to a practical end the menace of incessant building collapse, which has caused our country enormous losses in material and human resources.”

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.