Coalition Demands Halt to Demolition of Lagos Communities, Justice for Victims

The Coalition Against Demolition, Forced Evictions, Land Grabbing and Displacements in Lagos State has called for a halt on all ongoing demolition activities across the state. In a six-point demand presented before journalists in Lagos, the Coalition also called for full compensation for all homes, schools, health facilities and sources of livelihoods that have been demolished in Makoko, Oworonshoki, Owode Onirin, Otumara and Baba-Ijora. The group strongly condemned what it calls systemic, illegal, cruel and deceitful demolitions, forced evictions, displacement and land grab in underprivileged communities, including It said what is unfolding in these waterfront and informal settlements is not urban renewal as claimed by the Lagos State Government, but a state-created homelessness, engineered through brute force and justified with shifting narratives. ZIKORA EZEH – Assistant Executive Director of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA, presented the position of the coalition, while addressing a press conference at the International Press Centre in Ogba.  "These demolitions overwhelmingly target the poor – fishermen and women, traders, women, children, the elderly and persons with disabilities – who have neither the political power nor the economic means to resist. By destroying homes without alternatives, the government has plunged thousands into acute humanitarian distress, exposing families to hunger, disease, illiteracy, violence and death. This is a vicious cycle in which the state creates homelessness and then abandons the victims to survive on their own, which has been shown to also increase crime in societies" She said. ZIKORA IBEH went on to outline how the Lagos State Government had orchestrated a Pattern of Forced Evictions across various communities inhabited by mostly vulnerable low income earners, most time ignoring orders by competent courts of jurisdiction. "These illegal, forcible evictions are not isolated incidents: in Otodo Gbame between November 2016 and April 2017, over 30,000 residents were expelled in defiance of court orders; Oworonshoki in 2023, Orisunmibare in February 2024, Otto in March 2024, and Oko Baba in September 2024 have all been victims of deceit, illegality and cruelty by the Lagos State government. Speaking further, ZIKORA IBEH said the coalition of ten groups and individuals also faulted Governor BABAJIDE SANWO-OLU’s offer of palliatives for victims of the Makoko demolition, stressing that the displaced residents of Makoko are not beggars, but hardworking people who have been supporting themselves for years. "We condemn this heartlessness in its entirety and reject this offer. The residents of Makoko and the other affected communities are not beggars: they are hardworking people who, for years, have been supporting themselves despite the neglect by Sanwo-Olu administration as well as past governments in Lagos state. They do not need handouts. They need their homes, their schools, their clinics and livelihoods back! Lagos State’s Contempt of Court "Equally troubling is the Lagos State Government’s persistent disregard for the rule of law. In 2017, the Lagos State High Court ruled that forced evictions without proper consultation violate the right to dignity under Section 34 of the Nigerian Constitution. The ruling came after the 2016-17 Otodo Gbame evictions, where thousands of waterfront dwellers were displaced. Meanwhile; the Students Coordinator for Makoko, ISREAL IDOWU, said the demolition of houses in Makoko has extended to about five hundred metres from the high-tension powerline in the area, beyond the initial thirty-metre setback that the Lagos State Government had said it intended to reclaim for safety reasons. ISREAL IDOWU also accused the Lagos State Government of reneging on its promises to Makoko residents in its desperate bid to take over the land for redevelopment for the rich.