Makoko residents reject relocation; Falana petitions Sanwo-Olu to include community in UN-backed Water City project
By Ishaya Ibrahim
The Makoko community has rejected the proposed relocation of its residents to Agbowa in Epe Local Government Area of Lagos State.
In a statement signed by community chiefs, youth, women and religious leaders, the residents said they would not accept any forced relocation from their ancestral home and insisted on full inclusion in the United Nations-supported Makoko Water City Project.
The statement, signed by Chief Francis Alashe, Chief Orioye Ogungbure, Chief Ojo Aduke Iya and 19 others, expressed surprise that the Lagos State House of Assembly had recommended relocating the community to vacant land in Agbowa instead of allowing the rebuilding of the demolished portions of their settlement.
“We firmly reject this recommendation and insist that we should remain in our ancestral home where we have lived for well over 100 years. This is more so our right since the Lagos State Government has announced its intention to proceed with the Water City project in our community,” the statement read.
“The Water City project was first invited by us, the residents of Makoko, to help put forward an alternative to demolition to the Lagos State Government. Based on our invitation, support for the project was sought and obtained from the United Nations. The idea that we, the residents and intended beneficiaries, should now be forcibly evicted and relocated so that another group of people can come to enjoy this project is completely unacceptable.”
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has also urged Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to integrate residents of the Makoko, Oko-Agbon and Sogunro waterfront communities into the state’s planned Makoko Water City Project rather than relocating them to Agbowa in Epe Local Government Area.
In a letter dated April 13, 2026, Falana, acting as solicitor to the communities, described the relocation proposal as inconsistent with the government’s own vision of an “inclusive, sustainable, and economically viable” water-based development model backed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN-Habitat, UNCDF and other partners.
The letter highlighted two landmark court judgments that declared previous evictions in the waterfront communities illegal. On June 22, 2017, Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo (rtd) of the Lagos High Court ruled that the rights of residents had been violated, awarded N3.5 million in reparations and ordered the government to engage affected communities on resettlement plans.
On August 25, 2025, Justice F.N. Ogazi of the Federal High Court in Lagos restrained the Lagos State Government, its agencies and the Nigeria Police Force from carrying out further unlawful demolitions or evictions in Makoko, Oko-Agbon, Sogunro and Iwaya.
According to Falana, despite the subsisting court orders, the state government proceeded with demolitions in December 2025 and January 2026, displacing thousands of residents.
“The exercise resulted in the deaths of 12 people, including a 70-year-old widow, Ms Albertine Ojadikluno, and two babies, Morenikeji Olasupo and Epiphany Kpenassou Adingban. The incidents were widely reported by local and international media, including The Cable, Premium Times and Al Jazeera,” he said.
Falana noted that following a petition to the Lagos State House of Assembly, the legislature conducted an inquiry and confirmed the widespread destruction of homes and displacement of residents, including the elderly, sick, women and children. The House recommended relocating the affected families to Agbowa in Epe.
However, Falana pointed out that the recommendation conflicts with the Makoko Water City Project, which the state has presented as a community-centred regeneration initiative.
“On February 3, 2026, the Special Adviser to the Governor on E-GIS, Mr Olajide Babatunde, disclosed during the Assembly inquiry that the state would contribute $2 million while the United Nations is expected to provide up to $8 million for the project aimed at modernising the fishing communities,” he wrote.
“Our clients’ instructions are that the residents of Makoko, Oko-Agbon and Sogunro be included in the planned Makoko Water City Project instead of relocating them to Agbowa,” Falana added.
He argued that relocation to Epe would contradict the government’s stated goal of promoting community-centred development on water.
