A devastating fire that gutted a high-rise building in Lagos last week has left the nation in mourning, with the final, desperate phone calls of a trapped victim highlighting critical failures in emergency response.
The Inferno at Great Nigeria Insurance House
A fierce fire broke out on the fourth floor of the 25-storey Great Nigeria Insurance House plaza at Balogun Market on Lagos Island. The blaze spread with alarming speed, eventually causing a section of the structure to collapse. Traders and business owners were trapped inside the burning building as chaos engulfed the popular market area.
The inferno, which occurred in the past week, also spread to higher floors and adjacent buildings, complicating rescue efforts and intensifying the disaster. Emergency workers later recovered two bodies from the rubble on Friday.
Nze Obum's Heartbreaking Final Moments
One of the confirmed victims was Nze Obum, a cloth merchant based in China who had returned to Nigeria for the Christmas holidays. Obum was in the country to support his wife, who had recently given birth, and to sell goods at the market.
Tragedy struck when he went to retrieve remaining stock from his shop located behind the plaza. He became trapped under the debris when the building partially collapsed.
In a series of desperate calls that have since circulated online, Obum pleaded for help. He first called a fellow trader, Zacheaus Afolayan, around 2 a.m. on Thursday, begging not to be left to die and mentioning the young age of his children. A second, noticeably weaker call came later that same day.
"The audio is utterly shattering," said one social media user who listened to the recordings. "You can hear the sheer terror and desperation in his voice."
Afolayan later confirmed that Obum's body had been released to his family and transported to his home state of Anambra for burial.
Public Outcry Over Response and Safety
The emergence of Obum's final pleas has sparked a wave of anger and sorrow across Nigeria, with many questioning the efficiency of the emergency services.
Nigerians on social media expressed profound grief and frustration. User @Adolnedu wrote, "My heart bleeds listening to the voice crying out for help. What kind of leaders allow their citizens to perish like chickens? If the firefighters had gone there on time, people would have been rescued."
Another user, @Jorepresenter, pointed to systemic failure: "For him to be able to make that call he would have been traced and saved. The cost of ordinary citizen life seems to be cheap in Nigeria."
The incident has also raised serious questions about building safety and the decision to allow people back into a potentially unstable structure. @Bubbing22 reacted, "People should never have been allowed back in the building or buildings around it."
Many comments also served as a grim reminder about priorities. @Olaakinjofx noted, "It's a lesson to us out there not to value material things over our lives. He wasn't able to save his goods and at the same time lost his precious life."
The tragedy at Balogun Market underscores a persistent challenge in Africa's most populous nation: the gap between urgent need and effective public safety infrastructure. As investigations continue, the haunting voice notes of Nze Obum serve as a painful testament to a life cut short and a rescue that came too late.
