Lagos authorities have set up a technical committee to plan the safe demolition of the Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) building following a deadly fire, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service said Friday.
The update followed a second inspection of the site on Jan. 2 by Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
The state government said the Technical Recovery and Demolition Committee will be chaired by the commissioner for special duties and inter-governmental relations.
The committee will design and carry out a controlled demolition of the damaged building and nearby areas, with safety as a priority.
Emergency responders remain fully deployed at the scene. Officials said the site is still unstable, with large amounts of rubble in place.
Firefighters said small pockets of fire remain within the debris. The fires are coming from combustible materials such as textiles and clothing stored in the building, not from the structure itself.
These materials are buried deep and require careful handling.
Authorities said the pocket fires do not pose an immediate danger to the public.
However, removing debris too quickly could cause the weakened structure to collapse.
The fire has severely damaged the building’s foundation, making it unsafe for any use.
Officials said some rubble may be providing temporary support, and removing it without a proper plan could endanger rescue workers.
As a result, operations are being carried out cautiously and in line with international disaster response standards.
Officials warned that incidents of this scale can take weeks or months to fully resolve.
The state government said the area remains unsafe for public or commercial activity.
The market and surrounding areas are still closed, and only authorised emergency workers are allowed inside the cordoned zone.
An information centre has been set up at the site to attend to families and members of the public.
Authorities confirmed eight deaths from the incident. Five of the victims have been identified, while three remain unidentified.
Thirteen people have been rescued so far. Search operations are continuing in safer parts of the debris.
Preliminary findings point to serious fire safety violations. Officials cited the storage of large amounts of combustible materials with little ventilation, lack of fire safety equipment and unsafe practices such as using generators inside buildings.
They also noted that shops were built around electrical transformers, increasing the risk of fire.
The fire service said large-scale recovery efforts elsewhere in the world show that such incidents take time. It cited the World Trade Center fire in New York, where recovery operations lasted several months.
The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service said it remains committed to a careful and professional response until the site is fully secured and all risks are removed.
