Victims seek help after Lagos demolishes shanties

 The affected occupants of the shanties recently demolished in the Ajao Estate area of Lagos State have appealed for the state government’s intervention for shelter.

The Lagos State Government said last week it demolished the 138 shanties along the canal bank in the area, adding that the occupants paid between N60,000 and N100,000 annually, as part of efforts to address environmental infractions and illegal encampments.

The operation, conducted on Thursday by the Lagos Environmental Sanitation Corps, popularly known as KAI, sought to restore order and reclaim public spaces in the area.

The state Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, disclosed this in a statement shared via his official X account on Friday.
In the video attached to the post, structures located around Baale Shekoni Street and Qudus Folawiyo Crescent in the area were being demolished.

During a visit to the community on Saturday, our correspondent saw some of the occupants salvaging what was left of their belongings.

Speaking on the demolition, one of the affected occupants who chose not to mention his name said the officials arrived at about 8 am before swooping in on them.
“They arrived around 8 am with almost nine vehicles, including two vans and started pulling down our structures. They first started with the ones around St. Peters Catholic Church and after two hours, they moved to the other end of the street which is a crescent to demolish other structures.”

 All this happened during the Thursday environmental period.”

Some of them were also seen selling pieces of their property off due to the presence of scavengers who besieged the area.
“The demolition took us by surprise and we don’t even have where to move some of our belongings to and it is not up to 12 hours after the demolition that we started to see some scavengers moving in. That is why we considered selling some of our properties. The government should not leave us this way, we are hoping they could assist where necessary,” affected occupants who craved anonymity told PUNCH Metro.

Another affected occupant, who gave his name simply as Lucky, said some of them were apprehended during the demolition, locked up in the agents’ vans and taken away after the exercise.

Speaking on their plight after the exercise, Lucky lamented on the failed efforts to get a place to stay while calling for the government’s intervention.

He said, “Since the demolition, we have been getting a place to stay and it’s not been easy getting that. We want the government to provide necessary support to us.”
A trader who was affected by the demolition was seen managing a little space available to sell her goods.

“It is not all the occupants who are here who used this place as shelter. Like me, for instance, I sell goods but our shop was also destroyed.”

A source in the area told PUNCH Metro that the demolition was carried out due to plans to raise the fence by the canal.

Although some residents who claimed to have erected their structures on an approved location challenged the officials for demolishing it.

“They asked us to come with the necessary documents to prove our claim before we can be compensated,” the source said.

The Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotosho, could not be reached by phone as his telephone number did not connect when our correspondent contacted him on Saturday. A text message sent to him had yet to be replied to as of the time this report was filed.