The Lagos State government has confirmed the death of eight persons in the Christmas Eve fire incident that gutted the 25-storey building of Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) in Lagos.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu gave the update on Friday, during an inspection of the affected building, where pockets of fire were still visible nine days after the incident.

The governor expressed deep sadness over the tragedy and led members of his entourage to observe a minute of silence in honour of the victims.

“We have now confirmed that eight lives were lost in this unfortunate fire, and our hearts go out to their families.

“This is a very painful incident for all of us,” Mr Sanwo-Olu said.

He attributed the fire outbreak to human error, as preliminary findings pointed to unsafe practices within the affected and adjoining buildings.

The governor disclosed that several neighbouring structures were also impacted, as many generators were seen operating on different floors of shopping plazas along Shitta, Martins and Breadfruit streets.

“What we have observed here is very disturbing; You can see generators on multiple floors of these buildings, which is extremely dangerous.

“Therefore, we will not hesitate to take tough decisions, including pulling down any structure that fails integrity tests,” he said.

Mr Sanwo-Olu, consequently, declared the vicinity of the GNI building unsafe and warned residents and traders to stay away from the area until a phased and well-coordinated demolition is carried out.

“This place is not safe for human activity at the moment.

“We are appealing to everyone to cooperate with the government and keep away until the demolition exercise is properly concluded,” he said.

The governor also advised traders to always prioritise their lives over property during emergencies, stressing that no material possession was worth the loss of human life.

“Your life is more important than your goods. In this incident, some people were evacuated safely but later returned to retrieve their belongings, and that proved fatal. We must learn from this,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) has set up a help desk at the site to enable residents and shop owners to report missing persons whose businesses are located within the affected plazas for proper documentation.

Those present at the inspection include the commissioner for information and strategy, Gbenga Omotosho; commissioner for special duties and intergovernmental relations counterpart, Gbenga Oyerinde; PS  LASEMA, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu; general manager, Lagos Command and Control Centre, Femi Kennedy-Giwa, among others.

The Martins Street has been shut to business and commercial activities until further notice.

This is to allow continuation of safety assessments and recovery efforts. 

(NAN)