{"id":95653,"date":"2025-10-27T15:47:53","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T15:47:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=95653"},"modified":"2025-10-27T16:11:48","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T16:11:48","slug":"night-of-uprooted-lives-in-oworonshoki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=95653","title":{"rendered":"Falana and the night of uprooted lives in Oworonshoki"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Adebayo Adedeji<\/p>\n

In a trend that is gaining ground in Lagos, many families in the Itesiwaju Ajumoni Community Development Area of Oworonshoki, the early hours of an October night will forever be the moment their home ceased to exist in the way they knew it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

They woke to the roar of machinery, the crack of walls being pulled down, teargas drifting through narrow lanes and neighbours rushing to salvage whatever they could \u2014 mattresses, cooking pots, toys, a photo frame or two. Among them was a mother of three whose voice trembled as she tried to explain:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had just fallen asleep when the shouting started\u2026 we ran out with our children, left everything behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Scene after demolition.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That family is among more than 100 properties, according to human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria Femi Falana, which were demolished in defiance of a court order issued by the Lagos State High Court.<\/p>\n

On 23 October 2025, Justice Adegboyega Balogun granted an interim injunction halting further demolition of properties on Ojileru Street, Ososa Extension and Toluwalase Street in the community. Residents say they had neither received compensation nor even been served proper warning.<\/p>\n

And yet, Falana says, the state authorities \u201cmobilised over 50 armed policemen and thugs who fired teargas throughout the night\u2026 and proceeded to commence a fresh demolition\u201d.<\/p>\n

For the families whose dwellings were razed:<\/p>\n

\u2022 The walls that once rang with children\u2019s laughter now lie in rubble.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Neighbours who knew and shared in each other\u2019s joys now struggle to find where to go.<\/p>\n

\u2022 What was once community \u2014 Sunday snacks, chats on the street, children running in the open \u2014 has been fractured.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Demolition ground.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One resident said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat will we do without a place to call our own?\u201d<\/p>\n

Their displacement raises questions far beyond bricks and mortar: Where will the children sleep tonight? What about their studies? What about the women whose small informal businesses ran out of their homes?<\/p>\n

From the government side, represented by officials from the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) and the Ministry of Physical Planning:<\/p>\n

\u2022 The buildings were unapproved, in \u201cdistressed\u201d states, on drainage paths or on land owned by the state \u2014 thus posing threats to life and safety.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Notices had been served during an amnesty period (from May 2024 to December 2024) for owners to regularise. Many reportedly did not.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The government also said it would not compensate owners of illegal structures \u2014 \u201cShould we use taxpayers\u2019 money to pay somebody for an illegal structure? Is that fair? No,\u201d said Commissioner Oluyinka Olumide.<\/p>\n

So: from the government\u2019s view, they were enforcing planning regulations; from the residents\u2019 view, the enforcement was at best sudden, at worst unlawful.<\/p>\n

Falana\u2019s warning: \u201cIn flagrant breach and contempt of the subsisting court order\u2026 the action of the demolition squad is a sad reminder of the government\u2019s disregard for due process.\u201d<\/p>\n

For many observers, this case illustrates the tension between development\/regulation and human rights\/community protection. When entire neighbourhoods disappear overnight, the human stories behind the statistics often fade.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead: questions that need answers<\/p>\n

\u2022 What alternative accommodation or resettlement plan has been offered to the displaced families?<\/p>\n

\u2022 Will there be a verification of who genuinely owned or lawfully occupied these homes, and who was informal?<\/p>\n

\u2022 How can the state ensure both safety (through enforcing standards) and justice (through fair process and compensation where appropriate)?<\/p>\n

\u2022 What dialogue exists between the government, the community, and independent human rights actors going forward?<\/p>\n

In their words \u201cWe\u2019re not just losing our homes, we\u2019re losing our livelihoods and our sense of community.\u201d \u2014 A displaced resident was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government cannot allow people to live in houses that are not fit for habitation.\u201d \u2014 Ministry official.<\/p>\n

Beyond the court rulings and official positions lies the reality of human lives changed in an instant: bedrooms turned to rubble, families without shelter, children wondering where tomorrow\u2019s school bag will hang.<\/p>\n

The story of Oworonshoki is not just about land or legality. It\u2019s about people, about homes, about belonging \u2014 and about whether these will matter when the dust settles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Adebayo Adedeji In a trend that is gaining ground in Lagos, many families in the Itesiwaju Ajumoni Community Development Area of Oworonshoki, the early hours of an October night will forever be the moment their home ceased to exist in the way they knew it. They woke to the roar of machinery, the crack […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":94149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5777,7],"tags":[662,120,7386],"class_list":["post-95653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-features","category-news","tag-demolition","tag-falana","tag-oworonshoki"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/94149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}