United Bank for Africa (UBA) has come under scrutiny following conflicting statements about a fire incident at Afriland Towers, Broad Street, Lagos Island, where lives were lost.
On Monday, UBA issued a public statement confirming the fire affected one of its branches but stressed that no lives were lost and clarified that its head office at UBA House, Marina, was not involved.
The bank assured customers and stakeholders of the safety of its staff and clients at the branch.
However, fresh information emerged on Tuesday, with Tony Elumelu, Chairman of UBA Group, acknowledging that colleagues and others had in fact died in the incident.
In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Elumelu described the past hours as “tough” and confirmed the loss of lives.
“We and others lost colleagues in the fire at Afriland Towers. As a community, we are grieving for all and doing what we can to support their families and loved ones.”
He further admitted that the initial statement by UBA’s communications team was “put out in haste, without understanding the full gravity of what happened,” calling it regrettable.
Elumelu emphasized the group’s collective grief, noting that the bank paused operations to honor the memories of those who died. “They are irreplaceable and will remain in our memories always,” he added.
The incident has raised concerns about corporate crisis communication and the need for organizations to verify casualty figures before issuing public statements.
