Friends, colleagues and relatives are still mourning the death of 10 people who lost their lives in the September 16, 2025 fire outbreak at Afriland Tower on Broad Street, Lagos Island.
The victims included four officials of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and six workers of United Capital who were trapped in the six-storey building after thick smoke engulfed the premises.
The deceased United Capital staff were identified as Jesutomi Shodipo, 21, a graduate intern in the compliance department; Kehinde Adeoye, 36, from compliance; Ndidi Osaemedike-Okeke, 41, from trustees; Olumide Oyefodunrin, 27, a trust officer; Opeyemi Oloyede, 26, a compliance intern; and Rebecca Adenuga, 26, an executive associate with the wealth management department.
Photographs of the six appeared on social media as colleagues expressed sympathy to their families and promised to honour their memory at funeral events.
The tragedy has left a nation in grief, with tributes pouring in for the victims.
Boluwatife Ogunjimi, mourning Adeoye, recalled her last hours. “In her final hours, she was trapped, she reached out for help. She was conscious until she felt life draining out of her. Smoke inhalation, not a scar. ‘Ba mi to ju awon omo yen’ (Help me take care of my children) – some of her last words to her husband. Nigeria failed her, she didn’t have to die,” Ogunjimi said.
Another mourner, Obembe Dolapo, described the loss as devastating.
“Kehinde’s passing hits me hard, her sister is my sister’s colleague at work. Being on the phone with your sister and husband till she passed out. I won’t be able to get over this and I can’t even imagine how her sister and husband are feeling right now,” he said.
For many, the fire symbolised Nigeria’s failure to enforce safety standards. Ahile Kashami lamented: “Can we please not wait for this to happen to another person, can we put our differences aside and demand a better country with better laws? These Nigerians who are now late, who died avoidable deaths are just like you and I. They too might have typed RIP to some other Nigerians who died like this. If we don’t all rise up and demand a reset of this country, this will continue to get worse and the next time it might be me or you.”
Ibukun Olawepo stressed that responsibility should not be shifted.
“Her company didn’t fail her, it was Nigeria that failed her. Nonsense talk. Why people get away with nonsense is because people like you fail to call them to order, you make excuses for them and blame the country for errors that the same individuals placed in authority fail to correct,” Olawepo said.
Some contributors urged practical steps in emergencies. Asiwaju Oladimeji advised that in fire situations, people should use a wet cloth to cover their nose and mouth to reduce inhalation of smoke.
Others pointed to misplaced priorities. Olawale Samuel Morgan wrote: “The fundamental problem here is that as Nigerians, we tend to lose focus on the simple important things. A typical company prefers buying good looking chairs and office aesthetics rather than improving the lives of its workers or ensuring the working environment is safe.”
Safety experts also weighed in. Adeyinka Adebiyi, retired Director of Public Safety and Wellbeing at the Lagos State Safety Commission, described the fire as avoidable if proactive measures had been in place.
“All accidents are avoidable provided necessary proactive safety measures are put in place because 88 per cent of accidents are due to human error, 10 per cent to unsafe conditions such as machine failure, and only two per cent to Acts of God,” Adebiyi said.
He explained that every workplace should operate a Safety Management System in line with ISO Safety and Health 45001-2018 standards. Workers, he said, must undergo continuous fire drills and safety training.
According to him, panic and poor building design worsened the Afriland Tower tragedy. “The security glasses used for the windows in the building cannot be manually opened and are not breakable. Hence the smoke was intense and could not escape. Although there were exits, the smoke had covered them and people could not locate the exit routes,” he said.
Adebiyi recommended that occupants of high-rise buildings should be regularly trained in fire drills, while clients should be briefed on safety protocols before conducting business.
Government officials also criticised the building’s sealed glass design. Gbolahan Owodunmi-Oki, Permanent Secretary of Urban Development at the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, said the absence of ventilation was directly responsible for the deaths.
“Even in the event of emergency, the windows were sealed and there was no ventilation. The windows should have openings. When you use that kind of windows in an advanced world, there is always an opening on the windows that they can open. But in our case, we filled everything up,” Oki said.
He added that Lagos State would begin enforcing regulations requiring high-rise buildings to incorporate ventilated windows. “The cutting walls must have windows for ventilation as is done in advanced countries, so it will be enforced,” he said.
