The National Emergency Management Agency and key stakeholders have urged caution as recovery operations continue at the fire-damaged Great Nigeria Insurance House in Lagos.
Speaking on Thursday at the Martins Street site, NEMA’s Director of Search and Rescue, Air Commodore Usman Bature, said operations have entered the recovery phase.
He said the shift came nine days after the incident, following the expiration of active search-and-rescue efforts.
Bature, touring the site with LASEMA, federal and state fire services, described the situation as “sad”, adding that structural integrity assessments were ongoing.
“This is day nine. The search-and-rescue phase has expired. We are now in the recovery phase,” Bature said.
He said professionals were assessing the building and would advise authorities on the safest way forward.
Bature stressed enforcing a 50-metre safety perimeter, warning the compromised structure could fail without notice.
“Fifty metres is appropriate for safety, but the building’s stability is in question and it could give way at any time,” he said.
Lagos State Controller of the Federal Fire Service, Mrs Funke Adebayo, said residual fire pockets remain in the basement.
“Fabric materials stored in the basement are highly combustible and take longer to extinguish, so smouldering will continue until debris is cleared,” she said.
Adebayo urged traders and onlookers to respect restrictions to prevent secondary casualties.
“We do not want rescuers to become victims. Barriers mean people must keep away because the building could collapse at any time,” she said.
Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) Acting General Manager, Mrs Florence Gbaye, announced plans to deconstruct the weakened building.
She said government had invited engineers, planners, architects and builders to develop a safe deconstruction plan.
“We want the safest approach to deconstructing the building, and all stakeholders must comply with the 50-metre radius,” she said.
Gbaye warned against reports of people entering the premises at night to salvage property, stressing public safety.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports the building caught fire in Dec. 24, 2025, with residual smoke still visible from basement materials nine days later.
