LAGOS State government, on Monday, commenced the demolition of the large Makoko waterfront slum.
It will be recalled that the state government, on July 12, had warned Makoko residents that the structures they had mounted on the waterfront were not only illegal, but also constituted environmental nuisance.

According to information gathered, a letter from the state government notifying residents of the shanties of the state of things had read: “Notice is hereby given to you to vacate and remove all illegal developments along the Makoko/Iwaya Waterfront within 72 hours.”

When the Nigerian Tribune visited parts of the shanties that had already been demolished, many residents were seen pulling down the structures, in a bid not to run foul of the directives.

The exact number of people that will be affected by the exercise could not be ascertained at the time of writing this report, but information gathered by the Nigerian Tribune indicated that no fewer than 30,000 people lived in the targeted slum.

Nigerian Tribune also gathered that the Makoko community was divided between land-based and waterfront areas, but the inland residents would not be affected by the demolitions.

When denying complaints in some quarters that the government had not duly notified the affected residents, the community leader, Mr Ray-mond Adekunle Akonse-moyin, said “the government has repeatedly given enough notice to those occupying these illegal structures to leave. But this has been to no avail.”

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