Lagos begins payouts to Oworonshoki residents after midnight demolitions spark outrage

The Lagos State Government has commenced compensation payments to residents of Oworonshoki, days after a controversial midnight demolition that saw over 100 homes reduced to rubble on October 25, 2025, in defiance of an existing court injunction.

Images circulating online show cheques of ₦1 million and ₦3 million, dated October 23, reportedly issued to affected families in what state officials describe as a “prompt humanitarian response.”

However, the move has ignited widespread backlash across social media and political circles. Human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) condemned the demolition as “a flagrant violation of judicial authority,” while opposition figure Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour accused the state of weaponizing urban renewal against the poor. He further alleged that the timing — carried out around midnight — was a deliberate attempt to suppress public resistance and minimize documentation.

In the aftermath, reports indicate heavy police presence along the Third Mainland Bridge and surrounding areas to deter planned protests by displaced residents and civil society groups. Eyewitnesses describe the demolitions as abrupt, with bulldozers arriving unannounced and families forced to evacuate without prior notice, leaving behind valuables and lifelong investments.

The compensation payments, though swift, have done little to ease tensions. Online reactions are sharply divided — some view the gesture as damage control, while others label it as “propaganda in panic”. A popular X user wrote, “₦1 million can’t even rent a decent apartment for a year in Lagos. These are peanuts, not compensation.”

The Oworonshoki operation is part of Lagos State’s broader urban renewal and waterfront clearance initiative, which the government says aims to curb illegal constructions and improve drainage systems. Yet critics argue that the approach consistently punishes low-income communities while sparing politically connected developers encroaching on the same zones.

This latest episode adds to a long history of forced evictions in Lagos, from Maroko to Makoko, where promises of resettlement often end in controversy. As videos of residents salvaging belongings from the rubble continue to circulate, the compensation payouts — however immediate — risk being seen less as restitution and more as an admission of guilt in a city where progress often comes at the expense of its most vulnerable citizens.