Nigeria: Many Students Feared Trapped As Three-Storey Building Collapses

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a Premium Times report, says several undergraduate students are feared trapped after a three-storey building collapsed on Sunday night in Oko, a community in Anambra State, south-eastern Nigeria. The incident reportedly occurred at Amaokpala, Oko, in Orumba North Local Government Area. The collapsed structure was identified as Elite Five Star Lodge and was said to be mainly occupied by students of the Federal Polytechnic, Oko.

Premium Times reported that a former official of the Anambra State Emergency Management Agency confirmed the collapse on Monday morning, while speaking anonymously, and said the number of students still under the debris had not been determined. The agency’s executive secretary, Ndidi Omega, was contacted by the newspaper and initially promised a response, but no further details had been provided by publication time.

The Anambra State Police Command also confirmed the incident. Police spokesperson Tochukwu Ikenga said officers, other security agencies, the state fire service and SEMA personnel were mobilised after a distress call. According to the police account cited by Premium Times, the area was secured and rescue operations were underway, with injured victims taken to a hospital in Oko for treatment.

Authorities urged residents to stay away from the scene so emergency workers could continue searching for anyone still trapped. The cause of the collapse was not reported in the available account, and no official casualty figure had been released. Building collapses in Nigeria often prompt scrutiny of construction quality, regulation and enforcement, but any findings in this case would depend on a formal investigation.