The recent demolition in the Oluwaseyi Street of Oworoshoki, Lagos state, has left residents homeless, forcing them to seek shelter in churches and uncompleted buildings. The agents of the Lagos State Government began demolishing houses and burning others in the area last week.

Vanguard gathered that during the demolition, certain task force members, along with some police officers, allegedly received 1000 Naira from the affected Oworoshoki residents to facilitate the evacuation of their properties before the demolition.

Speaking to one of the affected residents, Esther, who is 28 years old and was born and raised here, says, “Since I’ve been living here, we were never given any notice about this sudden evacuation. It has left us homeless, and now we have to find a place to sleep every night.

“We are already searching for apartments to rent, but the demolition has been tough on us. It has particularly affected my aged mother, and as a pregnant woman, I am finding it challenging to cope with the situation.”

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Further investigation, was discovered that residents had to pay varying amounts of money to prevent the Lagos state task force from demolishing buildings and property. According to some victims interviewed by Vanguard, “we paid N2000 and others paid 10,000 Naira to buy time to evacuate our properties. Unfortunately, those who couldn’t afford to pay had their buildings demolished, along with their belongings”

A mother of two, who spoke to Vanguard, revealed that she and her children are currently sleeping in a church while her husband stays at his friend’s place. She expressed her sadness, saying, “We’ve been living here for less than a year. My husband bought the land from Omonile late last year, but it’s devastating that our properties were among those demolished.”

Omotayo Ogunsiji, a septuagenarian and retired civil servant who has lived in the area for 28 years, shared his ordeal with Vanguard.

He expressed his initial happiness when he heard about the plan to demolish buildings with plank structures that were situated 100 meters away from the water.

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However, he explained that his own house was a blocked building and located far from the water, so he wasn’t concerned. In 1995, before his retirement, he purchased this half plot from Omonile for N9,000.

“I have been living here for 28 years since 1995, my house was blocked building, and was very far from the water, so I was not bothered. I bought this half-plot from Omonile in the year 1995 before I retired and it cost me N9,000.

“We didn’t receive any notification beforehand. What happened was they provided a notification indicating that buildings within 100 meters of the water needed to be demolished. They marked the area for demolition from the start, but it was surprising when they suddenly came to my block and demolished it.

“If you don’t remove your properties, they’ll break them and set them ablaze. They approached me, saying they wanted to set fire to my house. I agreed, but I pleaded with them, giving them N1000 to allow me time to evacuate my belongings.”

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Upon contacting the Public Relations officer of the Lagos State Taskforce, Mr Raheem, he says “Notice was given to them ahead of time, the reason for the demolition, was because the area was denizens of criminals who rob commuters of their item at the third mainland bridge.

“Most times these miscreants rob passengers on the ferry and run into the area to avoid police, and the area was not government authorized, very soon, you will see a reduction in traffic robbery on the third mainland bridge because of this demolition”

Dismissing the claims of residents paying money to task force officials for property evacuation before demolition, Raheem stated, “These are mere fallacies; the Chairman of the task force was present during the demolition, and such incidents couldn’t have occurred.”
VANGUARD