Environmental activist and HOMEF Director, Mr. Nnimmo Bassey, has called on the Lagos State Government to immediately halt the ongoing demolition of homes in the Makoko waterfront community, describing the exercise as a grave violation of human rights.
Bassey made the call on Tuesday while visiting affected areas of Makoko to commiserate with displaced residents, including a family that lost their five-day-old baby during the demolitions.
He said Makoko is a historic community that has existed for centuries and plays a vital role in Lagos’ social and economic life.
“Makoko did not just happen yesterday.
This is a community that has been here for generations.
Destroying it is a shame on Lagos State and a shame on Nigeria,” Bassey said.
He accused the government of acting in “connivance with private interests” to dispossess residents without due process or resettlement plans.
He recalled the 1990 demolition of Maroko under a former military administration, which displaced over 300,000 people, warning that the current exercise risks repeating a painful history.
“Demolishing communities is never a solution. Government is meant to protect and serve the people, not render them homeless,” he added.
Meanwhile, civil society groups — CEE-HOPE Nigeria, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), and Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) — have jointly condemned the demolitions, linking them to reported deaths, mass displacement, and the arrest of a community youth leader.
In a statement, the groups said at least two babies and an elderly woman have died since demolition activities intensified on January 5, 2026, while more than 3,000 houses were destroyed, displacing over 10,000 residents.
They also raised concerns over the arrest of Mr. Oluwatobi Aide, a youth leader who allegedly pleaded with officials to allow residents time to salvage their belongings.
Condemning the actions, Bassey said: “This assault on the urban poor is comparable to what Nigerians suffer from bandits in other parts of the country.
Forced evictions and land-grabbing are repugnant and must be halted.”
The groups accused the state government of exceeding earlier assurances that demolitions would be limited to areas within power-line corridors, noting that destruction has spread to locations not affected by such infrastructure.
They called for an immediate stop to the demolitions, the unconditional release of detained community members, an independent investigation into the reported deaths, and compensation and resettlement for affected residents.
“Urban development cannot be pursued through violence and dispossession,” the groups warned, urging Lagos State to adopt a rights-based and inclusive approach that prioritises human dignity over land speculation.
