Residents of a luxury apartment in Banana Island raised alarm after several people were trapped inside a lift for nearly 40 minutes.
The incident surfaced after a viral video on social media showed distressed occupants inside the elevator struggling to breathe and calling for help.
Residents trapped inside lift
In the viral video, at least five adults were seen sweating heavily while trapped inside the lift. The individuals appeared anxious as they pleaded for assistance from outside.
One of the men inside the elevator spoke in the video and explained how long they had been trapped.
“We are here stuck in the lift of Banana Island school apartment. We’ve been stuck here for almost 40 minutes and we’re all about suffocating in here.
For you to know, I’m here with my wife Mary and my brother is here and my cousin… We are here, we are about suffocating in here. No body seems to have been doing anything about it.
We spoke to the landlady’s daughter, she said, they will see what they can do. Can you imagine, the principal of the school came over and said they are trying to do, 40 minutes and we are almost passing out in here.
I don’t know what to do, we are here stuck in the lift in the apartment, stuck in the lift here in Banana apartment here. Thank you.”
Watch the video here…
“We’ve been stuck in the lift for over 40 minutes and nobody is doing anything about it.”
— Residents of a Banana Island apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos cry out after being trapped. pic.twitter.com/6rnbcu1CeY
— Linda Ikeji Blog (@lindaikeji) March 9, 2026
Public reactions trail viral video
The video has since triggered reactions from social media users, with many questioning safety standards in high-end apartments.
Coc wrote: “Lift takes maximum of 6 persons 460 kg by weight but what am seeing there is more than 6 persons. Why didn’t you observe the safety measures for using lift.”
Nelson wrote: “They are not serious they can open it from the inside with a little help from outside.”
Arinze wrote: “And this would probably be one of the so-called luxury apartments they aggressively market to Nigerians ,but they don’t even have alternatives to emergency situations such as this. Luxury in the mud.”
Ambrose Efe wrote: “Omo! This thing is not funny o. The day I was stuck in a lift with my guys in Abuja, we were pretty tipsy , we started to break that shit open before people realized outside.”
New Dawn wrote: “This is why I don’t rate expensive places in Lagos. It’s mostly bullsheeet and not worth the hype. Imagine paying such outrageous amount for an accomodation, and no emergency response for your lift? That’s madness.”