The Lagos State Government has defended the demolition of buildings at the Trade Fair Complex in Ojo, insisting that the exercise was technical and not targeted at any ethnic group.
Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Olumide Oluyinka, dismissed claims of ethnic victimization during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Thursday.
“That is not true,” he said. “We have been to Owode Onirin, Idumota, and Ikeja. It has no ethnic coloration. The fact is that we just have to do our work. There is nothing ethnic here; it is purely technical.”
Oluyinka explained that similar enforcement actions had been carried out in other parts of Lagos.
“There have been a series of enforcement operations on Lagos Island. I personally led a team that even touched the palace of a white cap chief. This is Nigeria for all of us. The facts are clear: when you are in a place, you must live by the law of that place. It is as simple as that,” he said.
The commissioner accused the Trade Fair Complex management of compounding the problem by leasing land to private developers without following due process.
“What we have seen is a situation where the management is leasing out land to third parties who bring in their own consultants and contractors to build without recourse to the law.
“That day, we showed them that there was no meaningful layout there. We saw a three-storey building just two feet from the road kerb. When you open the shop doors, they swing over the road. Do you want to tell me a serious architect designed that? That cannot be possible,” he explained.
Oluyinka said defaulters were given more than enough time to regularize their structures before the demolitions began.
“I led a team there in March 2024. Between then and now is over a year and a half,” he recalled. “We met with the Executive Director, and there was almost a confrontation, which shows evidence that we were there.”
He alleged that enforcement officers were harassed while attempting to serve notices.
“Our officers went there to serve notices and were locked up for five to six hours. We had to bring in the police to release them.
“Even this year, officers went there and were detained. So what more notice are they requesting? It’s not new to them that we were coming. We gave defaulters time. They must comply with the law,” he said.
The commissioner lamented the poor state of infrastructure within the complex.
“It’s a shame we allowed our Trade Fair to get to that extent. Refuse, passageways, drainages, walkways, sewage—everything is in shambles. They should even be happy we are there to sanitize because that is our responsibility. We cannot allow it to continue,” he said.
On September 25, Lagos State began the demolition of unsafe and illegal buildings at the Trade Fair Complex.
The operation was led by the Ministry of Physical Planning in collaboration with the Lagos State Building Control Agency, the Urban Renewal Agency, and the Physical Planning Permit Authority.
Senior Special Assistant on New Media to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Jubril Gawat, confirmed the operation in a post on X.
According to him, the exercise targeted “illegal developments, structures without statutory approvals, defective structures, and buildings erected on road setbacks and drainages.”
Also present were officials of the Office of Infrastructure, members of the Lagos State House of Assembly, and security agencies who provided backup.
Two weeks earlier, the state government suspended all reclamation projects across Lagos over environmental risks.
Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, said reclamation activities were spreading on wetlands, floodplains, and lagoons without proper approvals.
He listed Parkview, Banana Island, Osborne, Ikoyi, Victoria Island Extension, Lekki, Ajah, Oworonshoki, and parts of Ikorodu among the affected areas.
“Lagos’s low-lying topography and fragile ecosystem cannot withstand indiscriminate reclamation activities without grave consequences,” Wahab warned.
