Lagos demolishes 17 buildings, vows more action

The Lagos State Government on Saturday demolished at least 17 houses built on the Right of Way (RoW) of the Ikota River alignment in the Lekki axis, warning that more illegal structures could face similar action.

Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, led a monitoring and enforcement team — joined by journalists — to the site, where he cautioned residents against actions that endanger the environment and obstruct natural water channels.

Wahab revealed that the ministry had received earlier reports about illegal reclamation efforts aimed at narrowing the river’s RoW.“We stopped them then, but we were alerted again recently that the encroachment had resumed aggressively, with attempts to sell to unsuspecting buyers,” he said.

According to him, the demolition forms part of a wider campaign to reclaim and protect flood-prone areas of the state. He noted that those behind the illegal developments would be identified and prosecuted.

Recovered evidence from the site showed ongoing sand-filling, reclamation, and construction activities directly on the natural waterway. Wahab condemned such actions, warning that “nature would always retaliate against human negligence and unlawful reclamation.”

He explained that, as a coastal state surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, lagoons, and rivers, Lagos cannot completely eliminate flooding but is investing in resilient infrastructure to reduce its effects.“What we can do is mitigate its impact through resilient infrastructure, which Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has continued to provide and maintain,” Wahab said.

He identified property No. 156 as a major obstruction to the coastal road alignment, adding that it blocked the natural flow of the Ikota channel and would be cleared to allow stormwater to discharge freely into the Lagos Lagoon.

Wahab stressed that demolition was never the state’s first option, but that some developers ignored repeated warnings and failed to comply with approved stormwater discharge designs.“Sometimes, we ask developers to produce practical designs for stormwater discharge, but they must bear the cost, not taxpayers,” he said, describing it as “irresponsible for government to fix problems created by private individuals who profit from violating environmental regulations.”

During an inspection of the Lekki–Epe corridor, the commissioner decried large-scale encroachment on wetlands, which he described as natural buffers that help retain excess rainwater.

He disclosed that drone surveillance had revealed extensive destruction of the wetland corridor, where coconut trees originally planted to stabilise the soil had been removed by illegal developers.

Wahab said enforcement notices were issued to violators on September 26, ahead of planned transport infrastructure works along the same corridor. The ongoing exercise, he added, was aligned with the Ministry of Transport’s Green Line Rail Project to ensure environmental protection complements transport development.

Commissioner for Transport, Oluwaseun Osiyemi, who joined the inspection, said the Green Line — running from Marina to Epe — would begin in December 2025 after stakeholder consultations and feasibility studies.

He added that some car dealers, initially granted temporary permits to use power line spaces, had violated terms by erecting permanent buildings on wetlands.“As a state, we must enforce compliance and protect the environment while accommodating transport development,” Osiyemi said.

The inspection team also visited Chevron Gate off Orchid Road, Partibon Homes, Oral Extension Phase 2, and Park View in Ikoyi, where several other environmental violations were uncovered.