Reverend William Omatu, whose three brothers, Stephen, 40, Casmir, 39, and Collins, 37, lost their lives in the Great Nigeria Insurance House fire, has condemned the response of emergency teams to the incident, describing it as slow and inadequate.
Mr Omatu spoke during the service of songs and the requiem mass held on Wednesday night for the deceased at Jesus the Saviour Catholic Church, Bucknor, Ejigbo. He alleged that emergency responders arrived without sufficient water and that rescue efforts were delayed at a critical time when victims were still trapped inside the building.
According to him, his three brothers were trapped in the multi-storeyed building as family members and other relatives at the scene pleaded repeatedly with emergency teams for urgent intervention to save those inside.
He further alleged that firefighters who responded to the incident came with limited water and were unable to sustain firefighting operations, leaving trapped occupants without meaningful assistance despite continued appeals from distressed families outside the premises.
The fire broke out on December 24 and raged for several days, sparking widespread frustration among affected families and members of the public over what they described as a slow and insufficient emergency response to the unfolding disaster.
Emergency response teams deployed to the scene included the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, the Federal Fire Service, the police, the Red Cross, and other responders drawn from different agencies.
Preliminary investigations indicated that the fire started on the fourth floor of the building and spread rapidly upward to at least the sixth floor and beyond, escalating into a full-scale inferno before firefighters were able to bring it under control.
The blaze also affected nearby structures, including a mosque located close to the building and parts of the Oluwole Plaza, compounding the scale of damage caused by the incident.
Eight people were confirmed dead as a result of the fire, including the three Omatu brothers, with their burial scheduled to take place on January 14.
