OVER 600 traders in Lagos mainland have been reportedly affected by the recent demolition exercises carried out by agents of the Lagos State government. The agents pulled down shops and houses, rendering the victims homeless and without means of living.
The victims are alleging official vendetta, victimisation, deceit, land grabbing and ambush by some state actors.
Officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LABSCA), according to the chairman of Ademuyiwa Market Committee, Anni Fadipe Fatai, penultimate Thursday demolished over 350 shops and stalls belonging to about 600 traders in the market.
The affected traders were allegedly given seven days to vacate the market without prior notification or correspondence.
The demolition exercise, the traders alleged, was instigated by the council chairperson, Rashidat Omolola Essien, following their refusal to comply with her directive to pay additional levy.
Efforts by Saturday Tribune to get Essien’s side of the story yielded no result as calls to her mobile phone line went unanswered and text messages sent to her were yet to be replied as of press time. Her Chief Press Secretary was said to be out of the country.
Fatai condemned what he described as government’s insensitivity to the plight of the traders.
‘We were played’
The market leader, in a chat with Saturday Tribune, said, “Everything happened suddenly. First, officials of the local government embarked on an inspection of the market without informing the leadership of the market. This was followed by a visit by officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency to measure the market land. They followed it up with a seven-day demolition notice served on the traders.
“All these happened within a space of two weeks without any of the officials saying a word to either the traders or the leadership of the market. On that fateful day, one of our members called me on phone that some strange faces were in the market. I rushed to the market to see them. I asked them where they came from and the purpose of their visit. They said they were from LABSCA to take pictures of the market.
“How can you walk into the market and start taking pictures without requesting to see the leaders of the market? I asked but they gave me no response. I demanded to see their identity cards which they refused to present to us. They insisted that they were sent by LABSCA to take pictures and not to banter with anyone. They took the pictures and left.
“The following week, another group of people visited the market. This time, they said they were sent by the council chairman, Honourable Rashidat Essien. They came with tape to measure the market space and left immediately afterwards.
‘We decided to visit the council chairperson to know what was happening. It was at this point that we learnt that she harboured animosity towards traders at the market and decided to wage personal war against us.
“Last year, the council chairperson proposed an increase in the market levy from N500 to N1,500. We met with her to express our dissatisfaction and she told us that it was the idea of the Lagos State government. But local government councils are in charge of markets, how can the state government introduce an increase in levy in markets that were not under its control? The sum of N500 is paid by every trader at Ademuyiwa Market to the council and this was the case across markets in the state. On that basis, we rejected the increase. This was the genesis of our problems.
“I was a member of the council’s revenue board for several years and I knew how much they generated. I also know that there was no need for any increase. All this I told the council chairperson but it fell on deaf ears. After this, officials from LABSCA came for demolition. They demolished the entire market without any prior notice. Before the expiration of the seven-day notice, I sought the intervention of the Secretary to the Local Government, Honourable Wasiu Ogunniyi, but he did nothing to assist us.
“We headed to LABSA office in Alausa with the notice they served on us and a petition written by us. Meanwhile, we have been calling the phone number that was written on the quit notice but we have not got any response. We complained about this to an official that attended to us and he took the notice from us and went in.
“A few minutes later, he returned and told us to dial the number again. Immediately, someone picked up. The voice told us to go back home and rewrite our petition and bring it back the following week. Before we could settle down to do as he instructed, our market had been demolished. Over 600 traders and apprentices have been displaced. Scores of responsible family men and women have been rendered jobless by a government we voted for to better our lives. They have decided to send our children who decided to learn a trade back to the streets.
“Many of us resume at the demolished market every morning to the sight of the rubble without any hope of securing another shop. The council chairperson has decided to destroy our means of living without any plan of relocation. She told us she was helpless and that if the state government decided to demolish her office, too, there was nothing she could do.
“Many of the traders are now jobless while some are homeless. This is our plight. We didn’t rest on our oars. We have written several letters to our representative at the Lagos State House of Assembly, Honourable Ajani Owolabi, but nothing was done. Last Friday, we met with the Special Adviser to the Governor on Urban and Physical Planning, Dr O.K. Bakinson. We are hoping that something positive will come out of the meeting.
“The economy is biting hard on every Nigerian and the situation has been compounded by the demolition of our shops. The Lagos State government, in connivance with the Lagos Mainland Local Government chairperson, demolished our shops within seven days without prior notice. I have never seen a government that is so insensitive to the plights of the people as this.”
Otto still wailing
Otto, a slum community on the Mainland, was recently rocked by an elaborate demolition that displaced over 2,000 residents. The axe is still dangling over the rest of the community.
The victims of March 24, 2024 demolition exercise have continued to lament their forceful ejection from their land by the state government.
One of the representatives of residents in the community, Mr Ishola Musibau Agbodemu, told Saturday Tribune that a total of 364 houses and over 2,000 residents were affected by the demolition exercise.
Agbodemu urged the state government to engage with residents of affected communities to fashion fundamental developmental interventions that would offer them decent living.
He said, “On Sunday, the 24th of March 2024, the Lagos State Building Control Agency demolished 364 houses within the Otto community. It is worthy of note that Otto is one of seven communities earmarked by the Lagos State Urban Renewal Agency for upgrading.
“However, the Lagos State government seems to have been paying lip service to its regeneration plan. As of today, over 1,000 people have been rendered homeless in Otto without hopes of possible resettlement or compensation. Residents are also wary of more demolition exercises as just a fragment of the community has so far been affected.
“But this is not the change Otto was expecting. In 2021, Dr Idris Salako, the then Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, broke the news of the creation of a new micro-city with better urban aesthetic and vibrancy in Otto and Otumara. He said the move was in line with the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda of the Sanwo-Olu administration’s development plan.
“The Lagos State governor devised Project T.H.E.M.E.S, an acronym for his administration’s six strategic development agenda, namely, Traffic Management and Transportation, Health and Environment, Education and Technology, Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy, Entertainment and Tourism as well as Security and Governance.
“By 2022, the Lagos State Urban Renewal Agency (LASURA) carried out an assessment for upgrading Otto. Otto was declared a ‘slum improvement area’ by LASURA in 2023. The above timeline clearly shows that there was ongoing engagement on the said project. However, in a drastic turn of events, forceful eviction was made in 2024. This was not the first case of abandonment of such a slum renewal process by the state government.
“The news of regeneration or redevelopment should bring high hopes, but for several communities and residents of slum communities in Lagos, it has been accompanied by fear of demolitions and forceful evictions like the Otto community’s. There seems to be a pattern recently with LASURA engaging community leaders and other stakeholders involved in targeted slum communities and later rescinding to carry out demolitions and evictions.
“The Lagos State authorities have forcibly evicted at least 50,000 people since 2013, including over 30,000 people forcibly evicted from Ilubirin and Otodo-Gbame waterfront communities. The forced evictions in Otodo-Gbame and Ilubirin followed the state governor’s 9th October 2016 announcement that authorities would demolish all structures in informal settlements along the state’s waterfronts and creeks, to address security concerns. There are at least 40 of such settlements, home to at least 300,000 people. This is a clear case of struggle between the state government and residents of low-income areas in Lagos.
“However, since the demolition in Otto, the joint community development association consisting of Toluwani, Ifesowopo, Ifeoluwa, Ilaje-Otuwara has issued a petition.
“The petition titled ‘Ongoing Demolition and Arson Case in Ifesowapo, Ifeoluwa, Toluwani and Otumara Ilaje CDA’ summoned the Lagos State government to exercise its oversight function and summon Honourable Rashidat Omolola Essien, Ọba Bashir Abisoye Odesanya, Chief Tomori Williams to appear before the governor to explain their position and actions regarding the ongoing demolition and arson in the CDA.
“Communities such as Otto, Otodo-Gbame, Isheri, Oworon-Soki, Makoko, Ijora Badia and more have been accused of crimes, including drug dealing, especially by the government, to justify why these communities should cease to exist.”
Government is fair to all —Omotoso
The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, debunked the accusations of the victims, insisting that the state government meant well.
He said, “I don’t see any insensitivity in anything that is going on.
“First, it is not that Lagos State government is just demolishing buildings. They would only demolish buildings causing obstruction to drainage channels or when the building is distressed and poses danger to human life. There is no government that would just go out and begin to demolish.
“What we are doing about urban regeneration is a deliberate effort to make our environment better and we do it with human face. We have meetings with whoever is concerned before we go and do any urban regeneration project in any area.
“Take for example, Oko Baba. Oko Baba was a problem that had been there for ages and in about five years of his administration, the governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, resolved it. How?
“It was resolved because of the engagement that we had done, because of the dialogue that we had been involved in, because of the sensitivity to our fellow human beings. We built a new place for them, TimberVille in Agbowa-Ikosi, free of charge, gave them apartments, gave them a place to do their business, and built houses for them to make them comfortable. So, how can anybody say that one is insensitive?
“And then look at the building that went down on Monday in the Ojo area. That was a building we marked for demolition a fortnight ago and asked the residents to leave. By the time the building came down on its own, there was no casualty.
“So, Lagos State government is very sensitive to whatever it is doing about urban regeneration. It’s not insensitive to people’s feelings. It’s not something that we are doing to make people uncomfortable. It’s not something that we are doing without compassion. It is for us to have a better environment, and to save lives. It is for us to be able to achieve the target of making Lagos a mega city that can compare with any of its peers around the world.”
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