Until early March, not many people including those resident in Lagos had ever heard of Otodo-Gbame, a sleepy fishing community outside Lekki that is quite easy to miss. However, it has been thrust into the centre of the news since then following three demolitions by the Lagos State Government, resulting in thousands displaced and up to ten people dead.
So how exactly did the situation get to this point?
In October 2016, the Lagos State Government made public its plan to demolish what it termed as ‘shanties’ along creeks and waterways in the state, citing the growing cases of kidnapping and other criminal activities in the communities.
However, worried by the prospect of up to 300,000 people being rendered homeless, a community-based group called Incorporated Trustees of Community Legal Support Initiative and 35 occupants of various waterfront communities sought a court injunction preventing the government from carrying out its action.
The plaintiffs had their prayers granted by a Lagos State High Court which restrained the state government from going ahead with the demolition. However, the court order fell on deaf ears as two days later, government-owned bulldozers rolled into Otodo-Gbame supported by armed police officers who shot sporadically into the air. The ensuing confusion ended with at least seven people dead, and prompted the United Nations Rapporteur on Adequate Housing to demand an explanation from the state and federal governments for the evictions.
A further court judgment on January 26 by the Lagos State High Court issued a ruling finding that demolitions on short notice without providing alternative shelter for persons evicted constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in violation of Section 34 of the 1999 Constitution, and ordered the parties to attempt mediation through the Lagos State Multi-Door Court House.
All was quiet for months until last month when another round of demolition took place, which brought widespread condemnation locally and internationally, and was covered even in the international media.
An attempt to engage in the mediation process as mandated by the January 26 court judgment came to an end with the abrupt withdrawal of the state government from the talks with no explanation.
It seems that the state government is bent on removing the residents of the community as a third round of demolitions took place yesterday, with gun-firing policemen in tow and which resulted in the death of two residents of the community.
It remains to be seen where the residents of Otodo-Gbame go from here, or if the state government will finally bow to not just the pressure and condemnations of their actions, but also the court orders that have sought to restrain them.
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