Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has called on the Lagos State Government to immediately halt what he described as illegal and unconstitutional demolitions of waterfront properties across the state, citing multiple court judgments restraining such actions.
In a statement titled “Lagos State Government Must Halt Illegal Demolition of Waterfront Properties,” Falana recalled that on June 22, 2017, the Lagos High Court declared unlawful a series of government-ordered evictions that rendered more than 30,000 residents homeless. Delivering judgment, Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo (now retired) held that the evictions violated the fundamental rights of the affected residents and awarded ₦3.5 million in damages in their favour.
According to Falana, the court also ordered an end to future evictions, a decision he said was capable of preventing an estimated 270,000 residents from losing their waterfront homes to urban development. The judge further directed the Lagos State Government to engage affected communities on resettlement plans in line with its urban renewal policy.
Falana also referenced a more recent judgment delivered on August 25, 2025, by Justice F.N. Ogazi of the Federal High Court in Lagos, which restrained the Lagos State Government, its agencies and the Nigeria Police Force from carrying out further demolitions or evictions in Makoko, Oko-Agbon, Sogunro and Iwaya waterfront communities. He said the order was granted to protect residents from what the court described as “continuous threat and fear of imminent demolition,” following years of tension between the communities and the state government over alleged forceful land acquisition without compensation or resettlement.
Despite these court orders, Falana accused the Lagos State Government of continuing demolitions in what he described as “a brazen display of executive impunity.” He stated that “the Lagos State Government has continued to demolish the waterfront properties including schools and medical centres”.
“In the process of the reckless demolitions and evictions, some citizens have lost their lives while thousands of others have been displaced,” he said. Falana further argued that the demolitions were in contempt of a Supreme Court judgment delivered on January 7, 2024, in a dispute between the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and the Lagos State Government.
According to him, the apex court affirmed that existing laws confer exclusive control of inland waterways on the Federal Government through NIWA. “For the avoidance of doubt, the Supreme Court clarified that the National Inland Waterways Authority is the only rightful and legal agency of government with the “powers to exclusively manage, direct and control all activities on the navigable waters and its right of way throughout the country for inland navigation,” Falana said, citing Sections 8 and 9 of the NIWA Act.
He maintained that since control of inland waterways rests solely with the Federal Government, demolitions carried out by the Lagos State Government in waterfront communities are “illegal, unconstitutional and contemptuous,” describing them as “a glaring sabotage of the judicial arm of government.” In urging compliance with the court judgments, Falana reminded Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the Supreme Court’s decision in Military Governor of Lagos State v. Chief Emeka Ojukwu, where even a military government obeyed a court order by restoring possession of disputed property.
“We are compelled to remind Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu” of that precedent, Falana said, stressing that lawful governance requires respect for valid and subsisting court orders and the protection of the rights of affected residents.
