Seven victims have been confirmed dead after the fire outbreak at Afriland Tower in the Lagos Island area of Lagos State on Tuesday.
The victims were reported to have died in different hospitals across the state, where they had been rushed after being evacuated from the high-rise building.
Wizopa gathered that doctors are still battling to save the lives of the remaining victims.
The incident was one of two separate fire outbreaks that hit the Lagos Island Business District on Tuesday, leaving several others injured and goods worth millions of naira destroyed.
While the first fire occurred at Afriland Tower in Marina, the second affected Mandilas Market and adjoining plazas along Taiwo Street.
Videos shared on social media and sighted by Wizopa showed individuals attempting to jump from the Afriland Tower building, while others were rescued with the aid of ladders by residents and passersby.
During this process, some people sustained varying degrees of injuries before firefighters arrived.
The Deputy Controller of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Ogabi Olajide, in a statement on Tuesday, confirmed that 11 persons had been evacuated into ambulances, with five among them successfully resuscitated.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service management, however, confirmed the death of four staff members in the fire.
The deceased staff were working at one of the two FIRS offices located on the sixth and seventh floors of the towers when the incident occurred.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS chairman, Dare Adekanmbi, identified them as Mrs Ekelikhostse George (Assistant Director), Mr David Sunday-Jatto (Assistant Director), Mrs Nkem Onyemelukwe (Senior Manager), and Mr Peter Ifaranmaye (Manager).
“It is with a heavy heart that FIRS announces the tragic loss of four of its staff members during the fire incident at Afriland Towers, Broad Street, Lagos, on Tuesday. FIRS is one of the tenants occupying the Towers, with our Medium Tax Audit and Onikan Emerging Tax Office housed on the sixth and seventh floors.
“Our Security and Safety officials quickly mobilised and contacted the fire service as soon as they were alerted. On getting to the scene, thick dark smoke was already billowing out of the building.”
The management expressed condolences to the families of the deceased, adding that it was working with all relevant agencies in Lagos to uncover the cause of the tragedy.
Also confirming the development to Wizopa on Wednesday, a Lagos State Government official, who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said seven casualties had so far been recorded.
According to the official, the victims died in three hospitals – two on Lagos Island and one in Surulere.
“I can confirm seven casualties at the hospitals where they were taken to. There are two males and three females that I know of among them. Immediately the victims were rescued, some of them were taken to the General Hospital, Odan; St Nicholas Hospital on Campbell Street, and Avon Hospital, Surulere. Four victims are still being treated in some of the hospitals.”
Some staff members of the UBA branch in the building were also believed to have lost their lives.
Although UBA had not confirmed the losses at press time, Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings (UBA’s parent company), mourned the deceased staff.
In an internal message to staff on Wednesday, Elumelu described the loss as devastating, stressing that no words could capture the depth of the tragedy.
He wrote, “Dear Colleagues, I am shattered by yesterday’s devastating incident at the Afriland Towers, which took the lives of our dear colleagues. No words can capture the magnitude of this loss-not for their families who loved them, not for the friends who valued them, and not for those of us who worked beside them. Yesterday was a stark reminder of what truly matters: our irreplaceable people, those who walk through our doors each day and share our mission.”
Elumelu disclosed that he cut short his US trip for the United Nations General Assembly to return to Lagos as a mark of respect for the deceased colleagues.
He urged staff to reach out to those receiving care, announcing that a memorial would be held soon to honour the departed while the group continued to support their families.
When Wizopa visited Afriland Tower on Wednesday, the atmosphere was tense but eerily quiet. The usually busy glass building looked deserted. Security operatives stood guard with vehicles stationed at three points as they sealed off the premises. Only a few UBA staff were seen entering quickly through security barricades.
An eyewitness, Abubakar, told Wizopa that the fire began around 1:45pm, with thick smoke rising from one side of the building.
He said, “The first thing I saw was a thick black smoke from the side of the building. We didn’t actually see fire; what we saw was thick black smoke erupting from underneath the building, close to the transformer area. It was unusual because no visible flames were seen at first, only thick smoke. Everywhere became dark, and people ran for safety.
“Next thing we began to hear people trapped inside shouting for help. Some people even jumped down from the building, though soft foams were thrown on the ground for them to land on.”
A trader, Itunnu Adebisi, who owns a small stall opposite the Tower, said she initially mistook the smoke for a generator fault.
“I thought it was a generator smoke until the smoke became thicker. Then, I realised it was from the side of the building. The smoke came from underground, beside the inverter. Inside the banking hall, there was no visible fire,” she explained.
Wizopa gathered that market owners and passersby improvised to rescue trapped victims before emergency responders arrived. A pregnant woman was also among those rescued.
While response time accounts differed, it was gathered that the bank’s emergency unit was the first on the scene.
A worker in the building, who requested anonymity, said, “It was the UBA fire service bus that came first before the Lagos State Fire Service. People around had already poured water to salvage the situation before the rescue teams came. The Federal Fire Service later joined in. They came about 40 minutes after the fire started. By then, we had already brought out about three or four people on our own. Yet panic from the bank staff members and people in the banking hall worsened the situation, another witness described.”
Despite the tragedy, business activities resumed around the premises on Wednesday, with traders seen operating under the watch of patrolling policemen.
Afriland Properties Plc, in a statement on Tuesday titled “Statement on Fire Incident at Afriland Towers, Lagos Island”, signed by Chukwunonso Okafor, Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications, confirmed the incident at its headquarters.
The clarification followed initial viral reports that mistakenly claimed UBA headquarters had been gutted by fire.
Hours later, another fire gutted parts of Mandilas Market and three adjoining plazas – Central Plaza, Yol Plaza, and Obama & AO Building – destroying over 1,000 stalls and goods worth millions.
When Wizopa visited, smoke was still rising from burnt-out stalls, with ruins of the once-busy market scattered across the ground.
Traders gathered at the barricaded entrance, lamenting their losses as fire officials prevented entry while still working at the scene.
A sales apprentice, Obinna, said the fire began in one of the market’s old buildings.
“It started as a small fire from the Obama & AO building, but it spread quickly,” she said. “The fire service came on time, more than the buildings affected would have been destroyed.”
Another stall owner, who declined to give his name, said he rushed down after a distress call and was able to save some goods.
“By the time I got here, the plaza had been opened, and we started packing our goods. I was able to save most of mine. This kind of fire incident has happened here before, about two years ago,” he said.
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