School Building Collapses In Nigeria: At Least 22 Students Killed

At least 22 children have reportedly died and several have been injured after a school building collapsed in Nigeria. Multiple reports suggest that the Saints Academy college in the north-central Plateau state's Busa Buji community collapsed on Friday, shortly after students arrived for classes.

The Guardian, citing Plateau police spokesperson, reported that 132 students had been rescued and were receiving treatment in various hospitals. At the same time, the country's National Emergency Management Agency said that rescue workers and security forces had been deployed at the location immediately after the incident for search operation. As per the report, Plateau’s commissioner for information said in a statement that the government has instructed hospitals to prioritise treatment "without documentation or payment."

"The government describes the incident as an avoidable tragedy, citing the school's weak structure and unsafe location near a riverbank," added Musa Ashoms, the top communications official, in the statement. Building collapse in the last few decades in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is a growing concern. The New York Times, citing building experts, reported that the use of defective or substandard building materials and lax supervision and maintenance are the reasons behind the building collapse in the country. According to Nigeria's public regulatory agency, over 220 buildings were reported to have collapsed in the country over the last four decades. In 2021, at least 42 people were killed after the collapse of a partly constructed luxury apartment building in Lagos.