Demolition: Displaced Oworoshoki residents recount losses

LAGOS — Tension, tears and disbelief swept through residents of Oworonshoki, Lagos, following a midnight demolition by officials of the Lagos State government, which reduced dozens of homes to rubble and left scores of families stranded under the open sky.

Angered by the demolition, the youths of the community had scheduled a peaceful protest for yesterday, intending to block the Third Mainland Bridge to draw attention to their plight. However, their plans were cut short by a massive police deployment across the bridge and other strategic locations, including Ojota, Maryland, Gani Fawehinmi Park, Bagada, and the Lekki Toll Gate.

During a visit to the area yesterday, the narrow Oluwaseyi and Bishop Ajayi streets had turned into scenes of sorrow as scattered mattresses, torn school uniforms, family photographs, and cooking pots lay buried under heaps of debris.

Displaced residents gathered in small groups, discussing their next move.

Some women cooked with borrowed stoves near the ruins of their former homes, while others spread mats on bare ground, preparing to sleep under the open sky.

Most of the affected residents refused to speak with Vanguard, saying there was no point, since “nobody listens to the poor.”

Some silently walked past reporters, scavenging through the rubble for the little they could salvage.

But one of them, Mr Idris Adeleke, who reluctantly spoke after much persuasion, fought hard to hold back tears.

Adeleke said: “There is no place to stay again. The leaders of tomorrow cannot go to school again. They are at home with their families because their parents’ homes have been destroyed by the same government that should protect them. They marked our buildings some time ago and gave no further notice until men came past 10 p.m. on Saturday to demolish our houses. They did not allow us to pick up any of our belongings. I don’t know where to stay. I am homeless, and my children are with my wife somewhere else.”

Holding onto a few salvaged items, another resident, who refused to state his name, said: “We are not criminals. We are citizens of Lagos. We are victims of the might of the state. All we ask is to be treated like human beings. Compensate us or get us alternative accommodation.”

This is land grabbing — Aggrieved residents

One of the residents, who had been watching the ruins of what used to be home for him and his family, shouted at the top of his voice without directing his speech to anybody, saying, “This demolition is a calculated act of land grabbing. These cleared areas are being earmarked for commercial sale and private development. This operation is less about urban renewal and more about dispossessing the poor to benefit the wealthy. “These lands are being appropriated to be sold for huge amounts. They are using the guise of enforcement to displace low-income families. If the intentions were genuine, there should have been first provided, a transparent relocation plan and adequate compensation for affected residents instead of ‘coming like thieves in the night.”

Protest aborted on Third Mainland Bridge

Over the weekend, a text message by Oworonshoki Youth Executives advising Lagosians to avoid the Third Mainland Bridge was widely circulated.

The message read: “Please, for those that plan to work on Monday, October 27, 2025, be informed that you should plan your route inward Island and inward Mainland because Oworonshoki youths are planning to lock down the Third Mainland Bridge in protest against the ongoing demolition in the Oworonshoki community. Please be guided.”

Some workers plying the route reportedly left their homes early to avoid being caught in traffic, as witnessed during previous demonstrations.

However, the protest never held, as policemen cordoned off the area.

Public disorder won’t be tolerated — Lagos CP

Speaking to Vanguard at the Oworonshoki end of the bridge, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Olohundare Jimoh, said the Command acted swiftly to prevent a breakdown of law and order.

Jimoh said: “We have made massive deployments since last night to ensure that no individual takes the law into their own hands or disrupts the peace that residents of Lagos are enjoying. No person or group should think it is wise to engage in acts that threaten the safety of lives and property. Anybody who wishes to organize a peaceful protest must adhere to laid-down procedures. What we have seen is not a protest but an attempt to cause disruption and public disorder. Such actions will not be tolerated.

“Anyone hiding under the guise of activism or protest to cause mayhem will be treated as a criminal. Lagos is peaceful, and we intend to keep it that way.

“The state government’s action was justified. Those who were genuine occupants have been compensated, and the process was even covered by the media.”

Lagos govt acted in Contempt of Court — Falana

Reacting to the demolition, human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, condemned the demolition and the police clampdown, describing them as “a blatant abuse of power and contempt of court.”

Falana said: “The Lagos State Government cannot, under any guise, demolish people’s houses without due process. The Lagos High Court had already issued an interim injunction halting any further demolition in the affected community. That order was ignored. The government acted in contempt of court.

“The Constitution guarantees every Nigerian the right to dignity, housing, and a fair hearing. What happened in Oworonshoki is not just illegal; it is immoral. We will be approaching the court to seek justice for the victims,” the senior lawyer vowed.

LASG defends action

Meanwhile, the Lagos State government has defended its decision to remove buildings along the Iyana Oworonshoki coastline and other parts of the state, insisting that the demolitions were necessary to reclaim right-of-way for drainage systems, restore order, and protect lives from environmental hazards.

The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, while defending the exercise on a television programme, said: “We engaged them for weeks and months, but they chose to be blatant. That was why those structures had to go.”

Also speaking, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Oluyinka Olumide, who said the government’s actions were backed by a 2003 Supreme Court judgment, said: “The state government will continue to protect its waterfronts and lagoons against abuse.”

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