Let Us Breathe; Stop The Demolition’ – Oworonshoki Residents Protest Against Lagos Governor, Sanwo-Olu’s Administration
‘Let Us Breathe; Stop The Demolition’ – Oworonshoki Residents Protest Against Lagos Governor, Sanwo-Olu’s Administration
Residents of Oworonshoki and Idi Araba communities in the Kosofe and Mushin local government areas of the state were thrown into lamentation in July as Governor Sanwo-Olu’s administration embarked on the demolition.
Residents of Oworonshoki in the Kosofe local government area of Lagos State on Saturday held a protest to register their grievances and plight over Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s continued demolition of their houses, without providing them with alternative shelters.
The residents, according to videos seen by SaharaReporters, carried various placards as they marched along the streets with the cards bearing various inscriptions, “Let us breathe, stop the demolition” “Our future is being truncated, stop the demolition” “No to Land grabbing” and “Don’t get elected to get us evicted.”
SaharaReporters had reported how residents of Oworonshoki and Idi Araba communities in the Kosofe and Mushin local government areas of the state were thrown into lamentation in July as Governor Sanwo-Olu’s administration embarked on the demolition.
SaharaReporters had gathered that the state government through the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources had issued the affected residents only one week’s notice to vacate their homes, a notice that elapsed on July 27, 2023.
Community sources told SaharaReporters that over 20 houses were reduced to rubble, while the enforcement authorities reportedly denied them the opportunity to remove their belongings that could be salvaged.
Meanwhile, in the protest on Saturday, one of the protesters said, “Don’t let us suffer in vain. Have mercy on us. We bought the lands. We didn’t take the lands for free.”
SaharaReporters on August 11 also reported that human rights and pro-democracy group, Take-It-Back Movement (TIB) asked the Lagos State government to take responsibility for the demolition of homes and displacement of poor families in the Oworonshoki area of the state.
Hundreds of residents of Oworonshoki and Idi Araba communities in the Kosofe and Mushin local government areas of Lagos State have protested against the demolition of their houses by the government.
The protesting residents, including the aged, pregnant women, and nursing mothers whose only homes have been demolished demanded that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu should provide them with new houses and compensate them for destroying their properties.
‘Let Us Breathe; Stop The Demolition’ – Oworonshoki Residents Protest Against Lagos Governor, Sanwo-Olu’s Administration
SaharaReporters had reported that the state government through the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources issued the affected residents only one week’s notice to vacate their premises, which elapsed, on July 27, 2023.
The Federation of Informal Workers Organization (FIWON) and Take It Back (TIB) Movement had condemned the demolition.
The organisations lamented that no fewer than 10,000 people, including women and children, had been made homeless as a result of the demolitions and burning of people’s homes which started on July 24, 2023.
Credit: Sahara Reporters
