The Building Collapse Prevention Guild, Ojodu Cell, has urged building owners, managers and regulators to adopt smart monitoring devices in all high-risk buildings, enabling real-time alerts, timely evacuation and a safer urban environment across Nigeria.
This statement comes days after a school building collapse in the Ogba area of Lagos State, which left no one injured.
The group stated this in a joint statement over the weekend signed by the Coordinator of BCPG Ojodu Cell, Abiodun Adegoke; the General Secretary of BCPG Ojodu Cell, Dom Ibeh; and the Public Relations Officer of BCPG Ojodu Cell, Femi Ishola.
Recall that last Monday, a school building at Yemco Schools, 11, Adu Street, Aguda, Ogba, in the Ojodu Local Government Council Development Area, Lagos, collapsed, though no casualty was recorded.
Speaking further, the group stressed that the collapse of the building underscores the critical need for proactive early warning systems in Nigerian buildings, adding that, fortunately, pupils and staff were evacuated in time, demonstrating how timely alerts could prevent loss of life.
“The school building collapse at Aguda, Ogba, demonstrates a simple but vital lesson: detecting tell-tale signs and equipping buildings with early warning systems save lives. We urge building owners, managers and regulators to adopt smart monitoring devices in all high-risk buildings, enabling real-time alerts, timely evacuation and a safer urban environment across Nigeria,” the group stated.
According to BCPG, modern building collapse detection systems now take early warning to the next level. It explained that as soon as a building exceeds the safe threshold and starts exhibiting signs of possible collapse, the alarms are triggered.
“IoT-enabled sensors embedded in structural members continuously monitor stress, movement and deflection.
As soon as the building exceeds safe thresholds, when beams bend, columns deflect or vibrations rise, alarms are triggered, alerting occupants and building managers to evacuate and take immediate action,” BCPG stated.
It added that while structural engineers interpret sensor data, all building professionals, including town planners; architects; engineers; builders; surveyors; quantity surveyors; estate surveyors and valuers; and facility managers, play a role in ensuring early signs are noticed and acted upon.
“High-occupancy buildings such as schools, hospitals and multi-storey residential complexes should be prioritised for these systems,” it advised.
The body explained that buildings often exhibit telltale signs of impending failure before collapse: “Common indicators include concrete spalling, visible cracks in walls or columns, bulging surfaces, unusual vibrations and deflection of floors or beams. Observing these early signs provides a crucial window for intervention.”
BCPG maintained that the recent collapse of the four-storey Yemco school building at Ogba, Ojodu, four days before the 6th anniversary of a similar collapse of a five-storey Ohen school building at 63 Massey Street, Ita-Faaji, Lagos Island, on Wednesday, 13 March 2019, heightens the importance of early warning systems.
“According to the feedback from the BCPG Lagos Island Cell, pre-building collapse cracks, spalling of concrete and the accompanying sounds were noticed in the Ohen School building at Ita-Faaji on that fateful day.
Unfortunately, the building collapsed before the pupils and other occupants could be evacuated, leading to the death of about 20 pupils, while many sustained injuries,” it stressed.
It reiterated that the narrow escape of the evacuated pupils and staff of Yemco Schools from the building collapse has initiated a call for the installation of early warning systems in buildings.
“The policy of continual structural integrity tests on buildings, especially the old ones, should be well implemented. This latest school building collapse should serve as a wake-up call to the Lagos State Government to act quickly on the distressed three-storey school building(s) at Mainland Senior High School, Onayade Street, Fadeyi, Yaba. BCPG Yaba Cell officially drew the attention of the Lagos State Government to the distressed school building on January 28, 2026,” BCPG warns.
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