Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has questioned the legality of the demolitions in the Makoko area of Lagos state.
In a detailed memorandum addressed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Sanwo-Olu, Ezekwesili described the demolitions as inhumane and a form of state-backed oppression against vulnerable communities.
She lamented that some of the country’s poorest citizens are being abused under the pretext of safety concerns and urban renewal.
She raised questions about governance and citizenship, asking whether Lagos operates as a community of equal citizens or as a space where economic value outweighs human dignity.
According to Ezekwesili, residents of Makoko, many of whom rely on fishing, informal trading and small-scale businesses, are not illegal settlers but Nigerian citizens whose rights have been consistently undermined because of their socioeconomic status.
She argued that years of neglect and repeated demolitions have fostered a pattern where poverty is treated as grounds for exclusion from citizenship rights.
She said community leaders were initially informed that only structures located within a 30 to 50-metre safety buffer around high-tension power lines would be affected, an understanding under which residents reportedly cooperated
“A government that alters agreed conditions mid-operation and widens demolition boundaries without notice is not enforcing the law but abusing its authority,” Ezekwesili said.
She further claimed that the operation resulted in fatalities and likened the incident to a forceful land seizure designed to serve elite interests.
According to her, the demolitions were not genuinely motivated by safety or urban planning considerations but amounted to what she described as “class cleansing” of poor communities from valuable waterfront areas.
Ezekwesili warned that the exercise had triggered a humanitarian emergency, displacing thousands of families, disrupting children’s education and exposing vulnerable groups to hunger, disease and insecurity. She argued that once government actions create homelessness, the state bears an immediate constitutional and moral responsibility to provide care and protection.