The recent demolition of buildings in parts of Lagos State has rendered residents homeless. Some of the affected communities recount their challenges, UTHMAN SALAMI reports.
The air was filled with fear when rumours that the Lagos State government was sending a task force to demolish some houses along the riverbank in the Oworonshoki area of the state started to make the rounds.
Residents gathered in small groups to engage in conversations on the looming clampdown. However, community members who were privy to the development assured residents that the demolition would only affect wooden buildings located within 50 metres of the riverbank.
This news laid minds to rest. However, members of the demolition team had other plans. Over six streets in the area were affected by the demolition exercise. Fear became a waking nightmare when hundreds of people, including children and women, became homeless during the week-long demolition exercise by the state government.
Children and elderly persons, who once had homes suddenly became homeless. Others who couldn’t bear to see the ruins of their homes reportedly moved back to their villages.
Many have described this decision by the state government to sack hundreds of residents allegedly without notice as insensitivity and counterproductive to its housing drive.
Dataphyte, a media research and data analytics organisation, recently put Nigeria’s housing deficit at 28 million. The research firm noted that the country needed about N21tn to close the gap.
Lagos, being one of the most populated states in the country, is not immune to the housing deficit challenge. The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, recently directed the state’s Ministry of Housing to deliver at least 20,000 affordable homes by May 2023.
The governor stated that this would form part of deliberate efforts to reduce the housing deficit in the state, particularly among low-income earners.
The PUNCH learnt that the demolition began about two weeks ago, and there are reports that the exercise may still continue.
When The PUNCH visited the area last Sunday, several children and elderly women were found sleeping in open places while others were seen sleeping inside abandoned tricycles.
According to residents, the state government did not give them any notice before destroying the houses. They noted that residents who tried to film the demolition had their phones seized and threatened. Some people also alleged that they were not allowed to carry their belongings before the buildings were allegedly set ablaze.
The PUNCH noticed that houses on Oke-Eri, Oluwaseyi, Community, Cornerstone, Ogo-Oluwa, Lagos streets, and several others areas which used to host thousands of people had become debris.
A septuagenarian, who simply gave her name as Mama Alhaji, said her charcoal business was destroyed during the exercise. The woman, who had reportedly lived in the area for over 33 years, stated, “They came to this place without notice. I have been living here for the past 33 years.
“My house was at Number 32, Oke-Ori. They didn’t give us any notice. On Monday, we heard that some houses were burnt around the riverbank. Not long after that, they came to Oke-Eri and demolished several buildings that were opposite mine. When I saw that the houses opposite mine had been demolished, I started packing some of my properties out of the place.
“But before I came back yesterday (Friday), my house and several bags of charcoal that were valued at over N60,000 had been burned. We didn’t hear anything before they started burning people’s homes.”
A mother of five children, who didn’t want her name in print, told The PUNCH that half of her properties had been lost to the demolition. She added that her children now take shelter in one of the nearby churches in the area.
The widow said, “I was not around when they came. Before I came back, half of our properties had been burnt. My five children and I have nowhere to go. It was one of my friends (who also affected by the demolition), who advised us to go and manage inside a church that is nearby.
“This is where I have been living since the destruction of my home on Friday.”
Residents directed The PUNCH to a family of eight that had lost their four-bedroom apartment, including a shop that was managed by the wife, to the demolition.
The father, who only gave his name as Mr Akande, told The PUNCH that the state government should have notified the residents.
He claimed that the task force tear gassed residents and allegedly smashed the mobile phones of persons found recording them as they burnt the houses.
Akande said, “The youth were prevented from taking pictures and filming the task force. They seized people’s phones and smashed others. My four-room apartment, including my wife’s shop, was burnt. I have all the documents, including the survey. They should have informed us before they came here.”
A building owned by PAN Africa Limited that has been projected as a site for a telecom mast has been reportedly penciled down for demolition.
Speaking on the issue, a contractor to PAN Africa, Mr Femi Falode, said, “This project has been paid for. The state government came to inspect it themselves before we started the construction.
“It is supposed to be the location for a telecom mast. I was told yesterday that the people that came to demolish buildings around have also threatened to bring it down, including the iron.”
A community leader who chose to speak on the condition of anonymity said the government only told the leaders that they were only going to demolish wooden houses along the riverbank.
He stated that community leaders are still in shock that buildings were burned and demolished, and residents were prevented from carrying their belongings.
The source said, “When the community leaders saw the demolition of buildings in Ifako bus stop, they said they were taking out wooden houses along the riverbank. They said they didn’t want any buildings 50 metres from the river.
“But on Friday, over 200 policemen, some of them wearing masks to cover their identities, invaded the community. We contacted everyone we knew in the government. They all told us that they were not aware of the demolition.”
Speaking to The PUNCH, an environmental expert berated the state government for issuing enforcement without warnings and providing alternatives.
The Executive Director, Youth in Agroecology and Restoration Network, Opeyemi Elujulo, noted that the implementation of the clampdown without the provision of a sustainable alternative was ill-timed.
He said, “The concept of sustainability is all-encompassing; it includes economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, and social sustainability.
“In other climes, all three tiers of sustainability are meant to work in alignment to ensure that implementing one does not impair the other. Considering the economic hardship in the country, it is something that should not have been done without the provision of alternatives.
“If the clampdown was to be done, there should be a provision of a sustainable alternative to ensure that people are transitioned, not just sacked. The two should work concurrently. The sustainable alternative should have been made before the implementation of the raids. The timing was wrong. The fact that there was no alternative makes it the wrong approach.”
The Chief Press Secretary to Governor, Gboyega Akosile, denied the claim that the task force demolished resident’s houses.
He explained the state government was only clearing shanties and criminal hideouts in the area.
Akosile said, “The state government did not demolish the homes of the people. What the state government did was to demolish shanties. When some of these people commit crimes, they run into that place for shelter. These were the structures that were demolished.
“The duty of the government is to ensure that we keep the people and the environment safe. The government would not just destroy people’s homes. Age does not give anyone the freedom to commit illegal acts.
“The news always favours the underprivileged and the underdogs in society. But they are not supposed to be in the area in the first place. We cannot be talking about heinous crimes committed by the people there who come on the road and commit crime, then run back to the shanties.
Meanwhile, the State House of Assembly through a committee that was set up to investigate the matter, had ordered the task force to cease demolition in the area.
In a 45-second video sent to The PUNCH Metro by one of the residents on Saturday, members of the committee assured the community that the Assembly would invite the task force and the State Ministry of Environment for questioning.
“We told them yesterday that they should stop the demolition. And they told us they had stopped. We have come and seen what happened. We will invite those who have come to demolish the houses. We have seen the petition you sent us.
“We will conduct a thorough investigation. Once we finish our investigation, we will submit our report to the House. You can see we brought cameras to record the situation on the ground, and your representative, Okanla, is here with us. This committee was set up yesterday (Thursday). You can see we have commenced work today (Friday),” the members said.
In Lagos State, the Lagos Building and Control Agency, an agency of the state government set up to ensure that basic minimum standards are maintained in building construction, is the government apparatus saddled with the responsibility of demolishing structures that are considered unsafe for human habitation.
With frequent building collapses recorded in the last few years, the agency has pulled down several structures that have been found wanting with regard to standards as well as ones considered to pose threat to public safety.
However, for reasons best known to the state government, a special task force, independent of LASBCA was set up to handle the current demolition.
