The death toll of the collapsed Ikoyi tower rose to 20 on Tuesday evening, with the recovery of one more body as rescuers continued searching for survivors.

NEMA said the rescue operations had recovered 20 bodies stuck under the building rubble.

The rescue operation has witnessed nine people rescued alive, and those injured victims are receiving treatment at Lagos Island General Hospital, Marina.

Among the recovered bodies was the personal assistant to Femi Osibona, the managing director of Fourscore Heights Limited. Identified simply as Nifemi, the personal assistant’s body was taken out of the rubble on Tuesday evening.

The building located at 20 Gerrard Road collapsed around 2:00 p.m. on Monday while workers were working at the site.

Over 50 people were trapped at the time of the collapse, families and friends of the victims accused the rescue workers of operating at a slow pace.

Journalists are barred from getting on the premises of the collapsed building. 

Rescue workers are still searching for more survivors.

On Tuesday, Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat visited the building collapse scene and debunked the claim of Gbolahan Oki, the general manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), that the tower went above the vertical limit approved.

Mr Hamzat said the developer got approval for a 21-storey tower to be built on the land, not a 15-storey building as earlier claimed by Mr Oki.

During a visit to the scene on Tuesday, Usman Baba, the Inspector General of Police, said proper investigations would be carried out.

Meanwhile, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has suspended Mr Oki, information commissioner Gbenga Omotoso announced in a statement on Tuesday.

“The Lagos State Government is setting up an independent panel to probe the collapse of the 21-storey building on Gerrard Road, Ikoyi. Members of the panel will be drawn from the Nigeria Institute of Architects (NIA), Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE) and other professional bodies,” said the statement.

It added that independent investigation would look into the remote and immediate causes of the incident and make recommendations on how to prevent future occurrences. 

The investigation is not part of the internal probe already being conducted by the government.

“Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has said the government will surely find out what went wrong and punish those indicted,” the statement further explained. “The governor, as a first step, has directed that the General Manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Mr Gbolahan Oki, an architect, be suspended from work immediately. The suspension is indefinite.”⁴