The Lagos State Government has defended the controversial demolition of shanties in the Makoko area of the state.
Speaking in Lagos on Wednesday, the State Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Adesegun Oniru, said the demolition of shanties in the coastal community was to protect the environment and the lives of affected residents.
Oniru said the persistent thunderstorm and attendant rise in the water level occasioned by climate change could result in needless loss of lives in the area.
He added that Power infrastructure, like poles and power lines around the shanties, also pose serious threats to residents' lives.
"There is an electrical pilot that goes across the shanties on the water, and we don’t want disasters to happen around that area, that was why we acted fast and took the action," he said.
“The reason for our action is to clear the environment and the entire vicinity of the danger that is looming in that area."
Mixed reactions have trailed the exercise, as the residents were only given 72-hour evacuation notice and not provided with alternative places of abode.
In his reaction, Oniru said there was no plan by the government to resettle the displaced persons, as they had illegally occupied the land in the first place.
However, residents and human rights groups have continued to condemn the state government's action.
A Makoko community leader, John Maotin, who described the demolition exercise as "callous", considering the short notice issued to them, said thousands of people had already been rendered homeless.
He said the fishing community ought to be provided with alternative places to live and work.
"Our occupation is fishing and there is no other place we can go to do our work," he said, pleading that the state government should reconsider its stance.
“We live and work on the water, and also contribute to the development of the state and the country."
The Executive Director, Social and Economic Rights Action Centre (SERAC), Felix Morka, described the eviction as "a total violation of the rule of law”.
Morka said the organisation had previously warned the coastal dwellers about the danger of staying at Makoko, but was averse to the short notice issued to them.
“Giving people 72 hours to vacate their homes, under any circumstance, is difficult and shows lack of understanding,” he said.-DAILYTIMES
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