With at least 20 people dead in the aftermath of the collapse of a residential building in Ikoyi, Lagos, surviving family members are now shifting from hope to anger and frustration.
The loud noise from the excavator digging the rubble did not stop frustrated families and friends from screaming at the rescue crew and officials who visited the site.
“I have no faith in them,” Bakare Farati said.
He hasn’t left the site since Monday, as his uncle has still not been found. Anguish could be seen on his face, as well as physical and mental exhaustion.
“It’s a retrieval operation. Not a rescue operation. They’re not taking care to search for bodies. One of the bodies they pulled out this morning was dismembered by the excavator,” Mr Farati added.
His uncle Wale Bob Oseni, in his late 40s, was visiting a friend when the building came down. He was supposed to return to the US that evening, he said.
Others standing by at the rescue site share his frustration.
“The pace of the search is too slow. They’re over it. They just want to get out of here,” said a man in his 30s who did not want to be named. “It’s disheartening and shows how little human lives are valued in Nigeria.”
The rescue team found two bodies from the rubble in the morning, but nobody has been found alive since Tuesday.
