Property owners and occupants were displaced in the early hours of Saturday as the Lagos State Government began demolition of unapproved buildings along Lekki and Iyana Oworosonki coastal lines.

 

The operation, led by the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) and backed by the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), started around 2 a.m. in Ojulari Community, Oworonshoki, throwing residents into confusion. Bulldozers moved in to pull down structures said to have been erected without approved development plans.

 

Tension escalated when armed security personnel fired tear gas around midnight. Residents were later allowed brief moments to salvage belongings after protests erupted, before the state team suspended the demolition for two weeks to give occupants more time to relocate.

 

At Iyana Oworosonki, demolitions targeted sand-filled sites facing the lagoon, part of a scheme initiated by former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode. In Lekki, the exercise was restricted to shanties reportedly occupied by miscreants accused of terrorizing road users and flouting environmental laws.

 

The crackdown comes days after the Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure warned that illegal dredging — with an estimated 10,625 cubic metres of sand dredged daily — threatens to destabilize Lagos’ ecosystem and lagoon.

 

Commissioner Dayo Bush Alebiosu, in a briefing ahead of the Lagos State Waterfront Summit (Sept. 11–13, 2025), said unchecked coastal erosion had already displaced communities such as Idotun in Ibeju-Lekki. He stressed collaboration with the Netherlands on sustainable coastal management and the need to transform the lagoon into an economic hub for transportation, fisheries, tourism, and trade.

 

“The lagoon is not just a body of water; it is our heritage, our economy, and our future,” Alebiosu said, urging stakeholders to join efforts in safeguarding Lagos’ waterfronts.