?Asks families of the deceased to sue for damages/compensation of N1 billion each

Civil Rights Advocacy Group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has said that the deaths recorded in the high-rise commercial building in Lagos Island housing the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), United Bank of Africa (UBA) and several others that experienced a fire incident that killed about ten top professionals, could have been avoided if only the safety precautions were put in place including fire hydrants, fire extinguishers and emergency exits.

Besides, HURIWA condemned the delay in the arrival of first responders to the scene of the inferno which contributed to the high fatalities just as the Rights group has asked the families of those who died in the fire incident should institute legal suits against the owners of the housing complex, the Lagos State and federal governments and prayers the court to grant each of the claimants the compensation of not less than N1 billion because of the criminal negligence to protect the occupants from avoidable deaths that occurred on Tuesday.

"We watched on live social media videos as good spirited Nigerians battled for nearly one hour to salvage the situation and save the lives of the Nigerians trapped in the building that experienced a fire incident and there was one noticeable factor: the absence of professional first responders such as the Lagos fire service department, the State and national emergency management agencies".

"We also noticed that the massive structure itself lacked the necessary fire fighting facilities that could have been deployed even before external first responders arrived. Why for instance does Lagos State not have air ambulances that could have been seamlessly deployed to the scene of the fire disaster on Wednesday to rescue as many people as possible?"

"Lagos State government is guilty of criminal negligence by not enforcing safety codes for high-rise buildings which is the fundamental reason that infernos in buildings of Lagos State have killed many citizens in recent times just as many Nigerians have lost billions of Naira worth of commercial assets due to fire incidents that could have been avoided".

HURIWA through the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said the government is constitutionally obliged to prevent such unnecessary fire incidents or at most minimise the consequences by implementing effective fire and emergency safety codes for commercial and private high-rise structures. Definitely, the legal duty to prevent such avoided fire disasters is that of the government.

HURIWA wondered why big corporate institutions belonging to both government and private owners became so nonchalant and careless to a deadly extent that nobody could notice that the massive housing structure whereby their offices are located, lacked fire-fighting facilities.

HURIWA therefore strongly believes that the families victimised by this avoidable deaths should seek for legal damages and compensation from the employers of the demised relatives and from both the Lagos and federal governments for contributing to the untimely deaths of their loved ones through criminal negligence to provide emergency fire exits and other fire-fighting facilities that ought to be strategically located within the building.

"HURIWA said rather that this shedding of crocodile tears by these negligent employers of those killed in the fire incident, the employers should dialogue with the families of the deceased and pay them decent monetary compensation of N1 billion each to avoid lengthy court cases. Please save Nigerians from this hypocrisy of mourning the same staff that you the employers never cared to ensure their safety."

HURIWA recalled that financial service provider, United Capital, has announced the death of six of its staff in the Afriland fire outbreak on Lagos Island, Lagos.

The confirmation brought the number of deaths to 10 after the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) confirmed the death of four staff in the inferno.

The fire outbreak at the six-storey building on Afriland Tower, Broad Street, Lagos Island, started some minutes to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, September 16, 2025.

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