Protests in Nigeria over demolition of Makoko — the ‘Venice of Africa’
The World
Updated on
In Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city and commercial hub, police reportedly fired tear gas and live rounds at protesters gathered at the local state house last week. The demonstration was organized by residents of Makoko, a huge informal settlement of about 300,000 residents.
Remarkably, Makoko is made up of houses on stilts that extend deep into the Lagos Lagoon. But now, the residents face eviction after the government said there were sanitation and safety concerns.
Betty Abah is the founder of the Lagos-based nonprofit Centre for Children’s Health Education, Orientation and Protection (Cee-Hope), which has supported displaced residents. She’s among the local voices condemning the government’s eviction tactics.
“It’s unbelievable the way they went about it,” Abah told The World. “They started by setting the people’s houses on fire.”
To understand more, The World’s Host Marco Werman spoke with Nnimmo Bassey, a Nigerian environmental activist and architect based in Benin City, Nigeria.
Marco Werman: Nnimmo, could you start by describing Makoko for our readers.
Nnimmo Bassey: Makoko was like the Nigerian version of Venice, with buildings floating over the water. The streets are waterways and people move about in canoes. The schools were built above the water, the hospitals, the orphanages. It was really a beautiful place, beautiful and very lively, with a lot of very creative young people and activists in that territory. And the main occupation of the people, of course, was fishing. And they have a very beautiful fish market. So, Makoko was the place of life. That’s what I like to see.
And why was Makoko built like this? What’s the short history?
It was a direct response to climate change, I would say, because when there’s a high tide or low tide, the people didn’t have to bother about the water. They didn’t have to bother about flooding or anything because they were living above the water. So, I think it was a very adaptive way of building in that kind of location, and it was the place for others to learn and not to destroy.
At the same time, Nnimmo, I understand this is informal housing, which means it’s not legal, is that correct?
Over 70% of the national economy is informal. People don’t need title deeds for land. Title deeds actually expose people to … this position. Traditionally, culturally, people don’t have to look at this for alarms, because some places are owned by communities [rather than] individuals. But in Makoko, I would say, first of all, [there] is an unserved, not even underserved, unserved community there. Rather than providing sanitation, providing electricity, and providing other basic necessities, the government just looked at the place and worked with speculators, desired it and grabbed it.
The government of Lagos saw Makoko as something to address and they moved to tear down parts of the settlement last month. What do you know about how that action actually happened?
Attempts to evict the people of Makoko have been ongoing for years. But late last year, in December 2025, they were told that buildings under the power line had to go. And that is legitimate, because nobody should really build under high-tension electricity cables that are not safe. And so, the government made this declaration, and the people said, “Okay, everything within 100 feet of the power lines can be demolished.” People agreed to this. But then the government said they have to extend this. And the people still agreed to that. Then the third estimate we had was that they had to bring down every structure within a hundred meters of those high-tension power cables, which is about a hundred yards. But when the demolition began, they had gone beyond that. They’ve gone up to 300 meters. They just want to clear everything on the waterfront.
About sanitation and keeping people safe from a high-voltage power line, aren’t those legitimate concerns?
I think the most legitimate concern is keeping people away from the power lines. But there’s a law for this, and the law demands that nobody erect structures within 30 meters. But now, they’ve cleared up to 10 times that distance, which is completely illegal.
Nnimmo, I visited Makoko some 15 years ago, and from recent photos I’ve seen, it’s only gotten bigger. I would not have estimated the population back then to be 300,000. What is the situation with housing in Lagos right now, generally? Is access to affordable housing a big issue?
Housing in Lagos is a big issue, but then you have a lot of high-end residential buildings that are not occupied by people because the rent is too high. People can afford to pay for it, but the poorer people in the city have to make do with whatever accommodation they can find.
So Nnimmo, of the 300,000 some odd residents of Makoko, how many are now without housing?
From estimates I’ve seen, at least one-third of that population would be without housing.
The government has also said people are being relocated to more formal housing, but with an estimated 300,000 residents in Makoko, what do we know about where and how they’re being relocated?
I don’t have that information. All the people I’ve spoken to are people who have been left to fight for survival, who have to find ways of finding other friends or relatives, or whoever, however they can find a roof over their head.
You spoke earlier about land speculators working perhaps with the blessing of the Lagos government. What is the future of the entire Makoko neighborhood? Is it the intent of the government to eventually tear it all down?
We don’t know clearly what the intention of the government is, but from the brutality of the destruction, the way it’s been carried out, it looks like they just want to evict everyone living above water. They’ve gone beyond Makoko and into neighboring communities. While the demolition was going on, there’s been models of what the government’s private developers want to put up in Makoko.
And this is a place with expensive real estate, including high-end residential buildings, hotels, recreational facilities, swimming pools and theaters. This simply means that people have been displaced. And so, we’re seeing this development: Whatever is coming is being done without discussion with the people, without consultation with the people, just to meet the fancy needs of the rich and the powerful.
And this is a place with expensive real estate, including high-end residential buildings, hotels, recreational facilities, swimming pools and theaters. This simply means that people have been displaced. And so, we’re seeing this development: Whatever is coming is being done without discussion with the people, without consultation with the people, just to meet the fancy needs of the rich and the powerful.
So finally, Nnimmo, as I said earlier, there were protests today by Makoko residents, but reports say the demonstrators were violently suppressed by police. Is there anything else residents are doing to try and save their homes or at least get guarantees of new housing?
The interesting thing is that the people of Makoko have been very peaceful. Today’s peaceful protest was notified to the government and the police. At least one person was shot, and a number of people were detained by the police. It’s really very disturbing because Nigerians have a right to protest. People also have court cases and rulings that stop the government from demolishing Makoko. So, this has breached the law of human rights on many fronts. And I’m sure the peaceful people of Makoko will continue to seek ways to negotiate with the government, and we can only hope the government will come down from its high horse and sit down to talk with the people.
Parts of this interview have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
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