Till date, Bernard Nzerem, an engineer, is still in shock over the demolition of his over N2.2billion property at Naze, Imo State.

The property, comprising a two-storey building plaza, housing a church auditorium, another two-storey plaza, about 70 percent completed and multiple shops, was marked on June 28, 2025, and demolished on July 5, 2025, within a week notice, despite the presentation of Certificate of Occupancy and a Power of Attorney to the government agencies.

“This was not just a building. It was my entire life’s sweat,” Nzerem, an elder statesman, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), ruling party and an indigene of Naze, cried out.

Nzerem is not facing the trauma alone, as many shop owners and businesses within the property complex have either packed up or are still struggling to raise money to pay for new shops elsewhere.

So also are owners of the 15 buildings around the Federal Polytechnic Nekede area in Owerri, demolished in July, crying over their huge losses, especially shelter. The same scenario is playing out across the country.

For instance, house demolition is not new in Lagos State, which perhaps, accounts for the highest number of house demolitions in Nigeria, followed by Abuja.

In 2023, a five-storey building at 7 Breadfruit Street, Lagos Island, was demolished, among many over the years.

The state also marked 39 buildings for demolition, amid issuance of quit notices to owners and tenants at Oral Extension Estate, Westend and Mega Mond Estate in Eti-Osa, LGA.

The above-mentioned are few of the many property demolitions in the state over the years.

However, the brazen way a community was demolished in the Oworonshoki area of the state, this September, raised alarm over the exercise, which was intended for the residents’ good.

According to Balogun Jamiu, chairman of a Community Development Association in Oworonshoki, the residents, who are now homeless, were left in shock when bulldozers moved in at night, despite efforts at meeting the requirements of the government.

“The demolition came to us as a surprise,” he said, decrying why such an exercise was carried out at night when residents were home, sleeping and vulnerable.

Afeez Ayeni, a displaced resident, lamented that the government betrayed them as there was a gentleman agreement, which the residents were complying with.

“When the government people came from Alausa, they asked us to restructure our houses and make them stronger because the Oworonshoki area is swampy, with the closeby lagoon. We have done that and we have proof.

So, why come from behind to demolish our houses, especially now that our government does not build for the poor,” Ayeni lamented.

Following the demolition, Ayeni noted that house rent, which was already high due to the area’s proximity to the island, has more than doubled.

“Landlords are now saying that their houses are government approved and using it to increase rent in Oworo. We are now ex-landlords, and cannot even pay for a room again,” he decried.

Esther Morakinyo Fabiyi, a senior nurse at a government hospital, noted that the government keeps overlooking houses under high tension, waterways and buffer zones, which are more dangerous and rather demolishing the ones that the owners are making efforts to enhance in this hard time.

“I saw fellow mothers, who were displaced, crying.

The government is no longer building cheap houses as Jakande did and yet it is demolishing the ones the owners have invested heavily to meet their high requirements,” she said.

Also, residents of Rimin Zakara village in Ungogo Local Government Area of Kano State, particularly, landlords, were traumatised over the demolition of over 40 houses during a recent operation by the state agencies, where no fewer than four casualties were recorded.

In defence of the demolition operation, a source at the state Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning said that the land in dispute belongs to the Bayero University Kano (BUK).

But many argued that the explanation is not enough reason for the demolition of the houses belonging to the poor.

Also, while it is about two years since the demolition of a set of buildings belonging to the Bayelsa State Government on Akassa Street, Old GRA axis of Port Harcourt, by the River State government, the evictees still recall their ordeals, amid pain.

Then, many described the demolition exercise as uncalled for, but while the two governments fought, the staff members of the Bayelsa State Liaison office in Port Harcourt, felt the impact of the eviction.

Isaac Board, a staff and evictee, recalled hurriedly packing out of the building and had no place to stay for some time.

“My family slept in the corridor of a friend’s place last night,” he lamented then.

Not only him, Woseebimu Frank-Oputu, an administrator officer at the liaison office then, sought refuge for his family at a church.

“It was my pastor that came with a truck to carry my property. My family and I are putting up in the church,” he stated then.

Though the staff members have been sorted out long ago, the worry for many is why government property and staff members were treated in such a way and that also points to why most governments don’t treat citizens with human face.

But in Abuja, many houses went down when Nasir El-Rufai was the Minister of Federal Capital Territory Abuja.

That wave of house demolition has resurfaced since Nyesom Wike became the FCT Abuja minister, with the Federal Housing Authority and the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), leading the onslaught.

Speaking on the issue, Andrew Osarhieme, a property expert, noted that while house owners share the blame for the demolition of their properties, the government and its multiple agencies share more of the blame for not putting the right measures in place and also being selective in the enforcement of building laws and demolition exercises.

“I live in Lagos and I have seen many houses built under high tension and the owners have been there for decades,” he said.

“Where is the government when the foundation was being laid and their agents who report fresh foundations to them for sealing off the premises if the owners have no approvals?

“The government is being more reactive than proactive in the enforcement of building laws, especially in Lagos and Abuja,” he said.

He insisted that if the government clearly marks areas and their purposes, fight enthronement, provide roads long before people start building, and deal with the omo-onile issue, there would be less properties to demolish across the country.

Mathias Egem, an Owerri-based property lawyer, also thinks that the government is reactive in the enforcement of building laws, while some demolitions are just for land grabbing.

Citing an instance with the demolition of a building allegedly used as a criminal hideout within the Ama Hausa axis in Owerri, the lawyer decried that instead of flushing the criminals out or turn the property to school or hospital, the government demolished it and probably, with an intent of taking over the land and reselling to individuals.

Countering the above, the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) noted that its demolitions, which come after several notices, are aimed at safeguarding lives and property.

Last year, the Lagos State Government, through LASBCA, directed the removal of all illegal structures erected under high-tension and power lines, giving property owners until January 31, 2025, to comply, after which enforcement actions will commence.

For Gbolahan Oki, general manager, LASBCA, the directive aligned with the Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law, which prohibits construction within restricted zones such as power line corridors.

Those who are crying foul today, according to the LASBCA boss, are owners who failed to adhere to the directive.

“Removing illegal structures is a crucial step in preventing tragedies caused by electrical hazards,” Oki stated.

“High-tension power lines transmit electricity at extremely high voltages, and any structure within their clearance zone poses serious risks, including electrocution, power surges, fires, and infrastructural damage due to safety violations,” he added.

Also, to ensure safety of lives and property across the state, in 2024, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos State, granted amnesty to property owners to regularize their documents, which was extended to December 31, 2024, after which the LASBCA commenced enforcement, starting with Ogudu GRA.

Reviewing the exercise, LASBCA has noted that the enforcement drive is restoring order to Lagos physical planning, amid preventing structural hazards, such as recurring building collapse.

The Lagos State government has also taken safety further and started demolishing unapproved buildings following the expiration of the amnesty period granted by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

For the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), there is nothing wrong with demolishing buildings, especially when there is a need such as structural failure, which then requires controlled demolition.

Based on the above and for the safety of the residents, the FHA has carried many controlled house demolitions, especially in Abuja.

The most recent, according to the housing authority, was on March 24, 2025, when it demolished one of the authority’s buildings in Gwarinpa Estate, Abuja; a block consisting of six 3-bedroom flats.

Ojo, managing director and chief executive of FHA, explained that the authority considered the safety of human lives over any other thing in the demolition of the block due to structural defects.

For those accusing the government of being reactive, the FHA boss insisted that his management cannot wait until there is a disaster before acting, hence, proactive steps have been taken to salvage the situation.

The FHA also cleared the air on fear of forfeiture of properties when demolished, citing the demolition of one the 24 two-storey buildings illegally constructed on a waterway in Guzape District, Abuja.

The FHA boss owned up that the dilapidated buildings were FHA’s, but assured that the authority would complete the new building in one year and all the allottees would get back their houses at no cost.

While the above sounds interesting, considering the many cases where house owners and allottees often lose after demolition, the court is also offering respect to some owners who still have faith in the legal system and have taken legal actions against the government.

In July, an Abuja High Court declared recent demolitions of homes across the FCT illegal.

It also ordered the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), responsible for the demolition, to pay N200?million to people whose homes were wrongly destroyed.

Though the case dated back to 2023 when the FCDA was demolishing buildings alleged to be on government land, it is justice at last for home owners, who despite having valid title documents or were in the process of securing them, lost their houses to the demolition exercise.

The ruling, according to Egem, will curb the excesses of government agencies, which often enforce laws without human face.

The property lawyer decried that most of the demolitions in the country violate homeowners’ rights to fair notice and a hearing.

“As Nigerians, part of our fundamental rights is the right to property. But our governments often act as if the citizens should not own property.

What they should do is to harmonise property laws and give them a human face because many pour their life savings into their buildings and also depend on them for earnings, especially at old age,” he said.

He urged for a win-win bargain, as most owners of demolished buildings do not live long after their properties are gone and land grabbing is on the rise due to many demolition exercises in the country.

Osarhieme called for harmonising of building laws, easy facilitation of necessary documents and approvals and reducing of the too many agencies In building regulations in the country, especially Lagos State.

Egem urged for stiffer laws against land grabbing and use of demolition as political weapons by government officials.

Harry Emetuma, a senior banker and house owner, urged would-be landlords to start with documentation and authorisation to avoid unnecessary harassment from the many and yet to establish government building regulatory agencies. (BusinessDay)