President sends condolences to families of victims of school building collapse and orders comprehensive investigation to ensure anyone found culpable is brought to justice.

President Bola Tinubu has described the deaths of 22 pupils in a school building collapse in Plateau State in Nigeria’s north central as a “huge loss to the nation” that was “too excruciating to imagine”.

The Saints Academy Secondary School, a two-storey building in Busa Buji in the Jos Noth Local Government Area of the state, collapsed on Friday morning.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said 154 people were trapped in the rubble; 132 were rescued and taken to various hospitals to be treated and 22 pupils died in the collapse.

It said rescue and health workers, as well as security forces, had been deployed at the scene immediately after the collapse, launching a search for the trapped pupils.

It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse, but residents said it came after three days of torrential rain.

Dozens of locals gathered near the school, some weeping and others offering to help, as excavators combed through the debris from the part of the building that had caved in.

One woman was seen wailing and attempting to go closer to the rubble as others held her back.

Tinubu’s spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, said the president received the news “with profound grief”.

“President Tinubu describes the unfortunate incident as a huge loss to the nation, as well as a devastating development – too excruciating to imagine.”

He said Tinubu sent his condolences to the bereaved families, the families of the injured and the people and government of Plateau State.

The president assured the people of the state of his fervent support at this difficult time.

The federal government ordered an investigation into the collapse.

Ahmed Dangiwa, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development directed the Plateau State Controller of the ministry to embark on an “immediate and comprehensive” investigation to ascertain the cause of the collapse and ensure that anyone found culpable is brought to justice.

In a statement issued in Abuja by his spokesman, Mark Chieshe, he said: “The cost of the building collapse cannot be quantified because lives are involved. In this case, it was a school with students whose only offence was to leave their homes in search of knowledge. This is totally unacceptable.”

Dangiwa said a directive had been issued to the appropriate officials of the ministry to conduct a full-scale investigation into the incident.

He described the collapse as “yet another unfortunate tragedy for the nation due to the negligence and unscrupulous behaviour of certain individuals during the construction process”.

“Unfortunately, the issue of building collapse has once again reared its ugly head in our nation. This is unacceptable because every time something like this happens, there’s a mother or father who has lost a child – a child who has lost a parent, or an individual who has lost a sibling or friend.”

Zubaida Umar, NEMA’s director-general, who visited the school two days after the incident, said the tragedy was “avoidable”.

“It is a lesson for all of us that we need to get all developers to adhere to building codes and plans and ensure the right thing is done.”

She expressed her condolences to the victims and their families.

“We are here to commiserate with you and to pray that the souls of the young lives we have lost will rest in perfect peace, and all others who are in the hospitals, may God heal them. We pray that this will not happen again.”

The state government blamed the tragedy on the school’s “weak structure and location near a riverbank”.

It urged schools facing similar issues to shut down.

“To ensure prompt medical attention, the government instructed hospitals to prioritize treatment without documentation or payment,” Plateau state’s commissioner for information, Musa Ashoms, said in a statement.

Following the collapse, Caleb Mutfwang, the governor of Plateau State, expressed deep sympathy to the families of pupils and staff of Saint Academy Secondary School.

He said he received “the heartbreaking news with grief and sorrow”, describing the tragedy as unfortunate.

Nothing could be more painful and heart-wrenching, he said in a statement issued on Friday.

Mutfwang declared three days of mourning, directing that all flags would be flown at half-mast to honour the victims of the school building collapse.

He visited the injured in various hospitals where they were receiving treatment.

He also visited the scene of the collapsed building and ordered the immediate closure of the school.

“Devastated by the tragic loss of young lives at Saint Academy,” Cristian Munduate, the Nigeria representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said on the social media platform X.

“Children full of dreams were writing exams when the school building collapsed. Deepest condolences to families affected,” he said. “Urgent action is needed to ensure safety of our children in schools.”