The Slum advocacy organization Dwellers International (SDI) directs sharp criticism against local authorities in Lagos, Nigeria, after ösee 3000 Home demolished and 10,000 people displaced i residential area Mako since December 2025.
To BBC Local authorities state that the demolitions concern homes built dangerously close to high-voltage power lines. and to homes within 30 meters of the lines would be demolished. Rthe exercises should then have has been extended to up to 300 meters. Makoko is an informal residential area where many houses stand on stilts in the water. There is no official populationstatistics for Makoko and estimates vary widely: between 80 000 and 300 000. In a study where locals were allowed to do their own mapping of the area in 2020, the population was estimated at 250,000. In total, the megacity of Lagos is estimated to have at least 17 million inhabitants.
SDI points out that Makoko is important to Lagos' economy through its many inhabitants who make a living from fishing and trade along the water. Othe organization says also that the demolitions, pride previous agreements, has occurred without sufficient notice, compensation or access to alternative accommodation. De emphasizes further to peaceful protests have been met with violence. Nsomething that is also confirmed by local residents who speakt w/ Al JazeeraSDI warns that this development risks leading to increased gaps, marginalization and injustice, and undermining the rights, security and dignity of low-income groups.
On February 3, news broke that the Lagos State Assembly was pausing the demolitions and promising to compensate those who lost their properties. The assembly had previously decided that Makoko ska develops into a “modern water city"something" critic calls a gentrification project.
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