The Ilaje community in Lagos on Tuesday stormed the Lagos State Governor’s Office in Alausa, Ikeja, to protest the demolition of Otumara, a long-established Ilaje settlement in Lagos Mainland. The protest, which drew hundreds of displaced residents and community leaders, was aimed at drawing the attention of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Lagos State House of Assembly to what the protesters described as “illegal demolitions” and “land grabbing” threatening their ancestral homes.
The protest followed the recent demolition of Otumara, a densely populated community that has been home to generations of Ilaje people. Residents said the exercise, which was carried out despite ongoing legal disputes in court, left thousands homeless, separated families, and destroyed businesses and means of livelihood. They accused certain individuals and groups of forcefully taking over their land with the backing of state officials and law enforcement agencies.
Chanting solidarity songs and carrying placards, the demonstrators expressed their anger, pain, and frustration. Speaker after speaker described the suffering that has followed the demolition, lamenting that many children could no longer go to school because their homes had been destroyed, while women and men had been left stranded without shelter or income.
One of the protesters, speaking passionately before the crowd, declared that the community had been abandoned by the same leaders they voted for. “Our houses are being demolished, our properties are being burnt, and nothing is being done. We elected you, Mr. Governor, and we need you to intervene. Our wives and children are suffering, families are separated, and many of us have become homeless. This is injustice of the highest order,” he said.
Another speaker reminded the state government of the long history of the Ilaje people in Lagos, insisting that they are not settlers but among the original communities of the state. “We are not foreigners, we are not slaves. We are princes and princesses from Lagos. Our forefathers settled here long before modern Lagos was created. Yet today, we are being displaced in the name of land sales and demolitions. If you write the history of Lagos, you cannot write it without mentioning Ilaje as one of the first settlers. We cannot allow our heritage to be erased,” he declared.
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The protesters described the demolition of Otumara as an attempt to wipe out the Ilaje identity in Lagos. They claimed that the operation was spearheaded by land speculators who were working in collaboration with some powerful interests to sell their land to the highest bidders. According to them, the demolition amounted to ethnic cleansing, as it specifically targeted their community despite their long-standing presence in the state.
At the heart of their grievance was the fact that the land dispute was still pending before the Lagos State High Court, with adjournments already fixed, yet demolitions were carried out in violation of the judicial process. This, they said, was proof that powerful actors were determined to disregard the rule of law in pursuit of land grabbing.
The protesters demanded that Governor Sanwo-Olu urgently intervene by halting further demolitions, restoring their rights to their ancestral land, and compensating those whose houses and businesses had already been destroyed. They also urged the Lagos State House of Assembly to use its powers of oversight to protect vulnerable communities from the menace of land grabbers who, in their words, “have no mercy for the poor.”
The demonstration, which was led by community leaders and elders, was also used to submit a formal petition to the government. In the petition, they asked that all demolished homes be restored to their rightful owners and that those behind the demolition—including private individuals and law enforcement officers alleged to have aided the exercise—be investigated and brought to justice.
The President of the Ilaje community organisation, who addressed journalists during the protest, warned that while the protest was peaceful, the community would not hesitate to escalate its resistance if the government failed to act. “Ilaje are not cowards. If demolitions continue, we will resist them. Today’s protest is peaceful, but we will not sit idly while our people are wiped out. The next time, we will mobilise thousands from Ojota to Alausa, and we will not leave until the governor and the speaker come out to address us. We will sleep here if necessary,” he warned.
Many of the displaced residents who spoke to reporters said they had lived in Otumara for decades, with some tracing their family history in the area back more than a century. They described the demolition as a deliberate attempt to displace the poor and hand over their land to wealthy developers. “When President Tinubu was elected, he said the poor must breathe. But in Lagos today, the poor are being suffocated. The only thing they know to do is bring down our houses every day. We are tired and we will not take it anymore,” one resident lamented.
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The protest ended peacefully with songs, prayers, and chants of solidarity. But the message from the Ilaje community was clear: unless the government intervenes to halt the demolitions and restore justice, they will continue to resist any attempt to erase their community from the map of Lagos.
The demolition of Otumara and the subsequent protest has once again brought to the fore the larger issue of forced evictions and land disputes in Lagos State, where rising urban development continues to put pressure on indigenous and low-income communities. For the Ilaje people, however, the struggle is not just about land; it is about identity, survival, and the right to belong in the city their forefathers helped to build.
