The drinks seller had been speaking to some of the construction workers moments before they entered the building site.
He still works nearby and the chatter among the locals often turns to those events and the possible cause.
Metal sheeting protects the site from prying eyes but mounds of broken concrete can still be seen through the gaps in the gate.
Knocking on the entrance to the ill-fated compound, two fierce-looking security guards opened up and said they had instructions not to allow anybody into the premises except state government officials.
Just as the place is sealed to the public so is the official investigation into the collapse – it has been sitting with the state governor since he received it in 2022.
A list of recommendations has reportedly been drawn up by a panel of experts following the investigation but that also has not been made public.
The BBC has repeatedly asked the Lagos state authorities to see the recommendations, and the report into the Ikoyi building collapse, but neither has been made available.
The coroner, however, has had her say and in 2022 she did not hold back.
In a damning judgment on the deaths, Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe, attributed the building collapse to the irresponsibility and negligence of the government agencies that were supposed to approve and supervise the plans and construction.
Lagos’s population is booming and is now estimated to stand at more than 20 million.
As the city grows so does the demand for housing and commercial property, and it can sometimes feel like a giant building site with construction going on everywhere.
Before work can begin, plans need to be approved by Lagos state’s Physical Planning Permit Agency. Then inspectors from the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) are supposed to look at the site as well as check the progress at every stage of construction.
And the Standards Organisation of Nigeria should make sure that only suitable building material gets to the market.
But on many occasions the procedures are not followed.
Inside the LASBCA’s offices everything appears calm – there is no sense of the urgency of the problems or challenges it faces.
Spokesperson Olusegun Olaoye acknowledges the criticism but dismisses allegations that officials have been bribed to issue fake certificates and rather blames a lack of resources.
“At the moment we have about 300 building inspectors and supervisors but we are looking to add to that,” he says.
Experts agree that more supervisors are needed.
Muhammad Danmarya, architect and construction expert, says they should number in their thousands.
“Three hundred is just not right for a state like Lagos. Each local government area should have at least 100 inspectors and supervisors and Lagos has 57 of those areas,” he argues.
“There’s always construction going on everywhere you look, so it’s important that inspection and supervision is going on all the time.”
In the absence of that regime across the state, some less scrupulous companies are getting away with violating building codes, using sub-standard materials and employing poorly trained workers – three of the reasons cited for the high frequency of collapses.
“They just come here to pick us up any time they have a job for us and pay us after we are done,” says labourer Habu Isah, who has worked on construction sites for years.
“I have never undergone any training, I just learned everything on the job.”
But even if violations are identified in the wake of a collapse, the state’s building agency does not take any legal action.
“To my knowledge there haven’t been any prosecutions in the past as far as building collapses in Lagos are concerned,” LASBCA’s Mr Olaoye admits.
“I know the statistics are worrying but there are ongoing efforts to halt the trend.”
