Two Mondays ago, the Lagos State Taskforce said it had dismantled some illegal shanties at the Lekki coastal axis to ensure free vehicular movement along the route and rid the area of criminal hideouts.

When this reporter got to the expanse of land between Adewale Kolawole Crescent and the Maruwa area of the state on Thursday morning, what was left of the shanties were rubbles and ashes.

Though an illegal settlement, the shanties used to be a home to men and women of all tribes, young and old, who migrated to Lagos to earn a living.

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On Thursday morning, a black Lagos State Task Force van and a white Lagos State Task Force Monitoring and Enforcement van were parked adjacent the destroyed shanties.

Although a police van was among the vans as this reporter approached the site, it left the area a few minutes after this reporter got there. But a few policemen stayed behind.

FIJ would learn that the security officials were stationed there to prevent the shanties from springing up again and to forestall trouble in the area.

THE TRIGGER

At the site of the destruction, FIJ spoke with Musa, a minibus driver and indigene of Adamawa State, who revealed that a fire incident that happened in April foreshadowed the demolition.

According to Musa, a fight broke out between a man and his female friend last month. The man, who was smoking a cigarette, threw away the cigarette stump without completely extinguishing the fire.

“That was the beginning of the end,” said Musa.

“A wooden shack there caught fire, and before we could wrap our heads around what was happening, the fire had spread. It partially burnt a building across the fence, and the woman who owned the building insisted that the shanties be demolished.

“We begged her. Some of us gathered about N20 million to beg her, but she refused. She is a big woman, and she said she did not want to see anyone here again. That was how we were pursued from here.”

He said the fire could have been extinguished before it spread but one of the settlers who sold water to them disregarded their several pleas for water.

Musa said after the demolition, many of the settlers moved to different parts of Lagos, such as Eleganza, Aboki Estate and Ikate.

IT HAPPENS EVERY YEAR, BUT…

FIJ gathered that this was not the first time the shanties were demolished. Musa said this recent demolition was the worst he had experienced since he got to Lagos.

“They demolish this place almost every year, but this one is the worst of its kind. They usually don’t touch some areas towards the back, but when that fire happened, it pushed them to destroy everything,” he said.

“They came around 4.00 am while people were still sleeping. They don’t even want petty traders to display their wares here at all. Whenever traders gather here at evenings, they chase them away.

“From the time of the demolition, the operatives have been coming here. They don’t want anything to be rebuilt here. We even heard that the land had been sold out to someone.”

From his words, Musa had only come to Lagos to work for some time and then return to his hometown in Adamawa.

“I have entered Lagos four times, but I don’t stay for long. I will do one year, hustle, then go back to my village in Adamawa. Since I have been coming to Lagos, I have never seen a shanty as populated as this place. It had many people from Maiduguri, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and Ibadan, among others,” said Musa.

“Most of us are just here to work. If I am tired of Lagos, I will leave. I might even go to Abuja to work because it is not as stressful as Lagos.”

Meanwhile, FIJ found a video on Twitter shared by @Gidi_Traffic that corroborated Musa’s statement about the fire incident. The shanties went up in flames on April 18, 2023, but the cause was not revealed.

BREAKING: The Shanties Between Adewale Kolawole Crescent and Maruwa Beach Lekki Are Currently On Fire. Efforts Are Been Made To Douse The Flames. pic.twitter.com/CKCTdr9t3P

— GIDI (@Gidi_Traffic) April 18, 2023

A scrutiny of the video gave a vivid image of the look the demolished shanties used to wear.

On one side, one could see the colourful roofs of the structures that were not touched by the fire.

On the other side, a crowd had gathered close to the hotspot of the inferno as some fire fighters in their blue and yellow uniform doused the fire.

The makeshift houses were built with wood and arranged in clusters as they sat in-between two fenced areas. But on May 11, 2023, what Musa and other occupants used to call a home had been reduced to debris.

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‘BUSINESSES THRIVE HERE’

A Yoruba businessman in the area told FIJ that the demolished site was a ‘city’ on its own, where businesses flourished.

He noted he made about N2 million within two months. Although he did not disclose the nature of his business, he said many of his customers lived in the shanties.

“Except you are lazy, you can make legit money here because this place is very lucrative for business. You cannot do business here and not make sales. It’s not possible. From washing of cars to sale of food and drinks, business is profitable here,” he said.

Speaking on the fire incident that triggered the demolition, Adejare said he heard the occupants wanted to compensate the owner of the particular building that was partially scorched but the offer was turned down.

‘THE SHANTIES WILL BE REBUILT’

Bode, another Yoruba man, told FIJ that the shanties would be rebuilt in no time because the displaced occupants had nowhere to go.

“There is nothing the government can do about housing them. Even if the government does so, there is a high probability that they would sell the house,” said Bode.

“The task force will stop coming here in one or two weeks’ time. Once they see that the government officials have gone for good, they will rebuild the place before the end of next month. They will start building from the middle to the back.

“The government often demolishes the shanties, and since the occupants have nowhere else to go, they will still come back.”

TASK FORCE’S RESPONSE

When contacted for comments, Abdulraheem Gbadeyan, the spokesperson for Lagos State Task Force, debunked the claim that the demolition was triggered by the April 18 fire incident.

According to Gbadeyan, the shanties were illegal structures, hence they were not meant to be there.

“The demolition was not as a result of any fire incident. They were illegally constructed, and illegal things are bound to happen there. We have cleared that same shanties on two different occasions.

“This is the third time the area would be cleared in about four years. When we wanted to demolish the place, they even tried to bribe the chairman of the joint task force, but it was rejected.

“If the society tolerates this for a long time, it does not mean the government will now recognise miscreants as legal settlers. They should have made provisions for themselves in terms of housing before coming here.”

Real names of interviewees were changed for their safety.