Officers of the Lagos State Police Command on Wednesday, January 26, fired teargas canisters and also opened fire on people who staged a protest at the State House of Assembly over the ongoing eviction and demolition of buildings in waterfront communities.
The protesters who gathered at the Lagos State House of Assembly complex were residents of Makoko, Oko Agbon, Shogunro, Oworonshoki, Otumara, Bariga and Owode Onirin and other waterfront communities affected by ongoing demolitions.
They had gathered at the Ikeja under bridge in the morning and marched through the Awolowo Way, past the State Secretariat to the State Assembly complex.
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They were carrying placards, chanting solidarity songs, and accusing the state government of carrying out the demolition exercises without consultation with the affected residents.
They also alleged that the demolitions are part of plans by the state government and private interests to acquire land to build hotels and luxury residential houses at the expense of poor residents being evicted.
The thousands of protesters, mainly aggrieved residents of the affected communities, accused the state authorities of evicting them without any form of compensation or resettlement plan. They recounted their ordeals in the hands of security operatives who allegedly led taskforce teams that carried out demolitions in their communities.
Tension escalated at about 1:30 pm when the protesters converged on the Assembly complex and demanded access to the podium where they could stay and convey their grievances to the state lawmakers. However, the Commissioner of Police, CP Olohundare Moshood Jimoh, ordered his officers to lock the gate, keeping the protesters outside the complex. While the protesters sat on the bare floor, insisting on gaining entry, the police threw teargas to disperse the crowd.
In the ensuing chaos, some of the protesters were shot, while an unconfirmed number of them were arrested, including one of the organisers, Hasan Taiwo Soweto, a human rights activist. Several protesters sustained various degrees of injuries during the police crackdown as people, including journalists who came to cover the protest, ran for safety. A couple of people who could not withstand the choking teargas fell and were gasping for breath.
The protest was organised by a group called Coalition against Demolition, Forced Eviction, Land grabbing and Displacement in Lagos State. The group called for a halt of all ongoing demolitions and adequate compensation to the affected residents of the communities.
Some of the placards read “Lagos is not for the rich alone,” “A megacity cannot be built on the bones and blood of the poor,” “End forced eviction,” “Save Makoko”, “Halt the demolition, it is illegal.”
Pinnacle Daily observed police operatives patrolling the area to maintain peace and orderliness.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist, scholar and analyst of socioeconomic issues in Nigeria and Africa. He is skilled in energy reporting, business and economy, and holds a master's degree in Mass Communication. He can be reached via @VICTOREZEJA on X
