The Plateau State Government has confirmed that 22 individuals have died and 132 have been injured following the collapse of a school building in Busa Buji, Jos North Local Government Area. The tragic incident occurred on July 12, 2024, and rescue efforts are ongoing.
According to the Plateau State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Musa Ashoms, around 200 people were trapped when the building gave way. “From what we have gathered, because it was an emergency situation, about 200 people were trapped in that collapsed building,” Ashoms stated at the site of the collapse.
Rescue workers have been working tirelessly at Saints Academy to find and evacuate survivors. “The emergency intervention has done a lot, and a lot of children have been evacuated to the hospitals. And we pray that at the end of the day, it’s going to end this way that we don’t lose a life,” Ashoms added.
The school reportedly had a total population of 400 pupils, with approximately half of them in the part of the building that collapsed. “Efforts have been made by NEMA, SEMA, and other security agencies to make sure that we find them alive and take them to the hospitals,” Ashoms said.
The commissioner attributed the collapse to substandard construction. “You can see that it is by the river bank and, from your eye evaluation, you know that it is not a very strong structure,” he said. Ashoms urged other schools with similar structural issues to close down immediately in the interest of safety.
Building collapses are not uncommon in Nigeria, often due to poor enforcement of construction standards, use of low-quality materials, and corruption. Previous incidents include the collapse of a high-rise building in Lagos in 2021, which resulted in 45 deaths, and a three-story building collapse in Ebute-Metta in 2022, which killed 10 people.
Rescue operations continue as authorities work to prevent further tragedies by enforcing stricter building regulations.
