Owner’s body is found as death toll from Nigerian tower collapse rises to 36

The owner of a luxury apartment tower that collapsed this week in Nigeria’s largest city was found dead in the rubble late Thursday as the number of bodies recovered from the scene rose to 36, local officials said.

Olufemi Osibona, managing director of the Nigerian development firm Fourscore Homes, had been inside the 21-story building when it crumbled Monday, killing and trapping dozens in the commercial capital, Lagos.

The high-rise in the upscale Ikoyi neighborhood, which had been under construction for nearly three years, is the latest to fall in the metropolis of some 15 million residents, sparking outrage over a climate of shaky oversight and faulty materials.

Rescuers have pulled nine survivors out of the wreckage so far, the National Emergency Management Agency of Nigeria said, but no one has emerged since Tuesday.

Friends of the owner, Osibona, identified his body at the site, according to a Lagos building official, who said he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly. Dele Momodu, a Nigerian magazine publisher known to be close to the developer, according to Nigerian media, posted a farewell on Instagram: “Good night, my very dear friend and brother.”

Among the dead were construction workers and the owner’s assistant. As family members of victims gathered on the site, video showed one man urging the teams to let him search the debris for his brother.

Officials said they were unsure how many people were in the building when it came down. Witnesses estimated dozens. The Lagos state government said it suspended its chief architect and opened an investigation into what spurred the disaster, and Nigeria’s president vowed change.

But before the building tumbled, regulators and consultants had flagged warning signs. The government ordered construction on the site to halt in June, citing structural “abnormalities,” state deputy governor Kadri Obafemi Hamzat told local media.

He did not clarify why work was allowed recently to start again.

Last February, an engineering firm withdrew from the project in a letter to Osibona, saying it could guarantee only the safety of the first three floors, according to text reviewed by The Washington Post.

Witnesses shared accounts on social media of feeling the ground shake. Photos showed a mountain of concrete, metal and dust.

“There has been a sad history of building collapses in Lagos,” said Kiber Adamu, head of a risk consulting firm in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.

Two years ago, a Lagos building where children attended school gave way, killing 20 people. In 2016, nearly three dozen died when a tower under construction fell apart. And in 2013, a three-story structure toppled in the city, killing seven.

Weak or fake concrete jeopardizes projects in the city, Adamu said, as well as a lack of follow-up inspections after buildings are approved. Corruption has also played a role, he added: Developers are known to try to trade bribes for permits.

The building that fell Monday was named 360 Degrees, according to an advertisement uncovered by Sahara Reporters — a residence that promised “luxury in the sky.”

It was supposed to open next year, according to the promotion. Units were selling for more than $1 million.

Ismail Alfa in Maiduguri contributed to this report.