Council Blames Government Negligence for Rise in Building Collapses

The Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria has attributed the surge in building collapses and resulting deaths to government negligence in law enforcement.

The Chairman of the Council, Dr. Samson Opaluwah, stated this in response to the recent collapses of a building in Kubwa, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and a school building in Jos. He emphasized that severe punishment should be imposed on those found responsible to prevent future occurrences.

"This collapse, unfortunately, has continued to happen, especially in areas that we can refer to as urban centers.“Centers where professionals and professionalism should be extolled to the highest.“The challenge we have now is government enforcement of its laws. We need to punish those who have been found wanting in the past,” he said.

This follows the rescue of four people from a collapsed two-story residential building in Kubwa, Abuja, on Saturday. A day earlier, at least 22 people died, and 132 were injured when a school building collapsed in Plateau. The Building Collapse Prevention Guild reported that Nigeria has recorded at least 135 building collapses and 26 deaths between 2022 and 2024.