A woman and her 14-year-old daughter have died after a three-storey building under construction collapsed in Okpoko, Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The incident occurred around 9:45 p.m. on Wednesday at Anata Anaba, trapping the victims inside their apartment in a neighbouring bungalow.
Eyewitnesses said the building made loud noises and developed visible cracks before collapsing, throwing residents into panic. Other people trapped in the rubble were reportedly rescued by emergency responders and taken to hospital.
The woman’s son, identified as Chimobi, said three members of his family were inside the apartment when the building came down. He said he was outside at the time, while his mother and younger sister were in a bedroom and could not escape.
Chimobi added that residents had previously raised concerns about the construction and called for the work to be stopped, but their warnings were allegedly ignored.
Some residents claimed the waterlogged nature of the land made it unsuitable for a three-storey structure. They alleged that an engineer initially recommended limiting the building to two floors, but another engineer was later engaged to continue the project.
Confirming the incident on Thursday, Anambra State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Chijioke Ojukwu, described the collapse as unfortunate and blamed it on poor-quality construction materials and negligence.
Ojukwu, who visited the scene alongside Ogbaru One Constituency lawmaker Noble Igwe, said the building was unauthorised and that the authorities had previously issued a stop-work notice.
He added that the state government had ordered the building’s demolition and would take steps to forfeit the land to the state. Authorities were also investigating other unapproved buildings under construction in the area.
The incident comes amid recurring cases of building collapse in Nigeria. In September, one person was killed and two others rescued after a two-storey building undergoing manual demolition collapsed in Aboru, in Lagos State’s Alimosho Local Government Area.
