An advocacy group, Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), Yaba Cell, has called on the Lagos State Government to urgently demolish a distressed school in the Yaba area to avert an impending collapse.

BCPG expressed concern over what it described as dangerous safety compromises within the premises of Mainland Senior High School, Onayade Street, Fadeyi, in Yaba Local Council Development Area, warning that the distressed three-storey classroom building has become a perpetual threat to the lives of pupils and teachers.

Although unoccupied, the group noted that in April 2019 the three-storey school building was marked distressed by the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA). However, it said it was worrying that, more than six years later, the issue remains unresolved.

In a letter to the state commissioner for education, endorsed by the Coordinator, BCPG Yaba Cell, Bayo Ogunrinde, and the General Secretary, Funmi Olaitan, and obtained by The Guardian, the group said: “Following the death of about 20 pupils in a five-storey building that collapsed at 63, Massey Street, Ita-Faaji, Lagos Island in March 2019, the Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory embarked on non-destructive structural tests of school buildings. Sir, it is important to remind you that the consequence of indecision could be fatal.

“The aforementioned building that collapsed at Ita-Faaji was tested and marked as distressed, but it was given some renovation treatment before its eventual calamitous collapse.

The parents of the dead pupils and the injured children are yet to recover psychologically from the tragedy caused by the collapsed building. Hence, indecision and delay, in this case, compromised the prevention of premature deaths.”

According to the coordinator, a recent visual inspection of the building by BCPG revealed that the roof was in disrepair, while the soffit of slabs and beams had suffered concrete spalling, leading to the exposure of corroded reinforcement steel bars.

“On December 4, 2025, a visit was paid to Mainland Senior High School by representatives of BCPG, accompanied by LASBCA officials and the king of the locality, the Onisabe of Igbobi-Sabe, Oba Owolabi Adeyemi Adeniyi.

Obviously, the elements of the building had deteriorated and transformed negatively against standard building conditions and the dictates of the National Building Code of Nigeria.
“Unfortunately, there was free access to the classrooms of the distressed building without solid restrictions.

An ordinary caution tape would not be a barrier to dissuade playful school children. The building, though unoccupied, is dangerously close to other buildings being used as classrooms and offices,” the group explained.

BCPG reminded the state government that the collapse of a classroom building at Odokekere High School in Ikorodu, Lagos State on January 15, 2026 should be seen as a harbinger of the calamity that could disrupt the academic serenity of the secondary school at Fadeyi, Yaba.

The coordinator warned: “Kindly bear in mind that a device that can effectively predict the exact time a building will collapse is yet to be invented, thereby making uncertainty a prevailing factor.

Moreover, you should be reminded of a two-storey school building with a roof in disrepair that collapsed within the Federal Technical College premises here in Yaba. The last building that collapsed in Yaba was at 335, Borno Way, Alagomeji in September 2025, sending five persons to an early sojourn to the netherworld, the realm of the dead.”

Members of BCPG Yaba Cell further urged the government to overcome indecision and bureaucratic bottlenecks, and to take proactive steps by isolating the distressed building with hoarding while reaching a final resolution on its fate.

“Safety in school premises must be a priority of the Lagos State Safety Commission, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency and the National Emergency Management Agency.

Prevention is superior to managing building collapse crises. The Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory should not rest on its oars in verifying the integrity of school buildings,” BCPG said.