A coalition of civil society organisations on Wednesday staged a peaceful protest in Lagos over the alleged wrongful displacement of residents and landowners in Okun Ajah, a community reportedly affected by the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.
The protest monitored by PUNCH Metro was held at the annexe office of the Federal Ministry of Works, Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos.
The group also demanded the immediate release of one of their members, identified as Obanla, who was allegedly detained during the land clearance exercise linked to the project.
The coalition’s coordinator, Shina Loremikan, lamented what he described as a pattern of intimidation allegedly by government officials and private developers executing the project.
He claimed that Obanla was abducted by military personnel at one of the disputed areas, the Winhomes project site.
He said, ‘The current realignment of the highway has led to mass displacement without adequate consultation or compensation. We are not comfortable with the masking of land grabbing as national infrastructure development and using state apparatus to intimidate and dispossess lawful landowners’.
‘The minister and his agents are using government power to oppress the people. What is happening in Okun Ajah is not just development, it’s a calculated dispossession of citizens from their ancestral lands’, Loremikan alleged during the protest.
On the whereabouts of Obanla, Loremikan said he had remained missing since his arrest, and all efforts to trace him had proved futile.
He said, ‘Since that day, no one from his family, friends, or members of the community has seen or heard from him. We have visited several police stations and the state command, but they all deny having him in custody’.
He warned that failure to release Obanla would lead to further protests, including petitions to the military authorities.
‘As we speak, there is a simultaneous protest happening in Abuja. This impunity must stop. No one has the legal authority to abduct a citizen simply for speaking the truth’, Loremikan added.
The protesters vowed to sustain their campaign until justice is served, stating that the protest was not just about their detained colleague but also a broader call to defend the rights of all affected communities.
As part of their demonstration, the coalition submitted a petition to the ministry, listing their demands.
These included justice for displaced residents, compensation for losses, and a stop to what they termed ‘militarised evictions’.
A representative of the minister for works received the petition and assured the protesters that their grievances would be forwarded to the appropriate authorities.
