The National Emergency Management Agency has engaged the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation to demolish the 22-storey Great Nigeria Insurance building on Lagos Island.

The structure suffered extensive damage after a fire gutted it on December 24, 2025. Authorities say the demolition is necessary to ensure the safety of emergency personnel and to enable excavation and clearance of the site.

The move was confirmed on Saturday by the Nigerian Television Authority in a report shared on its official X account.

The NTA reported that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu sought federal assistance to safely demolish the 22-storey GNI building after the Christmas Eve fire.

NEMA officials, led by the Director of Search and Rescue, Air Commodore Usman Bature, alongside the agency’s Lagos Head of Operations, Tunde Mohammed, accompanied the CCECC on an inspection visit to the site.

“The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has mobilised the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, CCECC to the site of the Great Nigeria House gutted by fire in Marina.

“This is in response to the request by the Lagos state Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu for federal agencies to give a helping hand in bringing down the 22-storey building to make way for excavation work,” the NTA report read in part.

The report said CCECC has mobilised its equipment and is awaiting clearance to begin the demolition, a step aimed at safeguarding emergency responders and readying the site for excavation.

A massive fire erupted on the evening of December 24, 2025, at the Great Nigeria Insurance building on Martins Street, Lagos Island.

The 22-storey structure, which had been largely used as a warehouse by clothing materials traders, was left severely damaged.

In a situation report, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency said the fire originated from an apartment on the fourth floor and rapidly spread across the level before climbing to the sixth floor with strong upward momentum.

During a visit to the scene on December 25, 2025, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu indicated that the building would be pulled down once the fire was completely extinguished.