Lagos demolitions in Makoko displace thousands, families say

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Lagos authorities have carried out demolitions in Makoko, a historic waterfront community in Nigeria’s largest city, displacing residents as homes were torn down and families scrambled to salvage belongings. In an AP account, people described bulldozers arriving with little warning and, in some cases, leaving them with shelter that does not resemble the homes they say were destroyed. The demolitions began in late December and continued into January, including Jan. 11, when Victor Ahansu said his home was demolished.

Ahansu, a fisherman, told AP that he was barely awake with his wife and baby twins when the sound of bulldozers woke them. After fleeing, the family’s house was demolished on Jan. 11, according to AP, and they now live in a wooden canoe with a woven plastic sack for shelter from the rain. AP also reported that hammers and salvage work continued as other residents broke down remaining structures and tried to keep what they could.

Makoko has long been home to tens of thousands of people living on stilts above the lagoon, and the community is known for how life continues amid the waterways, according to AP. Some nonprofit organizations have described Makoko as a testing ground for ideas such as floating schools, while residents and advocates say the waterfront has also attracted development interest. AP reported that to some developers and authorities, the area is valuable waterfront property held by some of the city’s poorest people.

A coalition of local advocacy groups told AP that in the latest wave of demolitions, which began in late December, more than 3,000 homes were torn down and about 10,000 people were displaced. The AP report said that residents had lived there legally, but that Nigeria’s Land Law allows the government to take land it deems fit for public purpose. AP also said advocacy groups estimate that hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes since 2023, when the current state government took office.

On Wednesday, hundreds of people protested the mass evictions across Lagos, AP reported, and police dispersed them with tear gas. Residents told AP that in their case the Lagos state government asked people to move 100 meters from an electricity line, but they said the demolitions kept going. When AP asked the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development about the Makoko demolitions and residents’ allegations that there had been little or no warning before they began on Dec. 23, the officials declined to answer.

Residents and the AP report said Lagos Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu defended the evictions and cited safety risks, saying communities had spread close to critical infrastructure. AP also reported residents’ claim that space in the Makoko area had been allotted to a private construction company, but AP said it could not verify that allegation. In response to what he said was a pattern of clearing communities, Megan Chapman, co-director for the Justice and Empowerment Initiatives, told AP: “I think that when (the government) is looking for centrally located land and since other places are filled up, there is the idea that you can come and clear away communities because they are less privileged and you can come up with some justification.”

For residents, the AP report described few public services in Makoko and limited options after demolitions. Basirat Kpetosi, for example, told AP that she woke to the sound of bulldozers on Jan. 9, when her house was torn down, leaving her with no shelter along with five children. AP reported that Kpetosi built the home on the lagoon with two rooms on stilts made of bamboo and aluminium sheets last year, and she said she received no compensation for its destruction.

Kpetosi also told AP that the government is making no plans for resettlement, while AP reported that the law requires it. AP cited a 2017 ruling by the Lagos High Court that it said had been seen by AP, in which the judge ruled that mass eviction without resettlement violated the “fundamental right to protection from cruel and degrading treatment.” “We sleep in the open,” Kpetosi told AP. “When it rained, it rained on my children and me.”