The narrow lane of Ijero Street in Ebute-Meta (West), in the Lagos Mainland area of Lagos State, has recently become the stage of a growing urban drama, one that pits low-income tenants against powerful property owners and officials of the state’s building control authority, the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA).

At the heart of the dispute is a modest three-self contain apartment and seven-room bungalow located at 24 Ijero Street, where occupants say they are being threatened and now live in fear of being rendered homeless after what they describe as an unlawful eviction by LASBCA and a representative of the new property owner.

Interestingly, the incident on Ijero Street is not isolated. That has been the experience of many residents in Lagos of late.

But landlords in the state also say they are not finding it easy to eject tenants. Temitope, in a chat with Saturday Tribune, said he had been trying to evict a recalcitrant tenant from his property around Iyana Ipaja since last year. He is particularly irked because the tenant, besides defaulting on rent payment, has also not been keeping the property in good shape.

“There was even one that packed out without my knowledge after living in the property for close to one year without paying his rent. This other one has been promising since last year that he would pay, but till now, he hasn’t. If I now decide to recover my money through any unconventional but legal means, he would be the first to shout on the rooftop,” Temitope stated.

To address the disturbing trend of forceful evictions by shylock landlords, the Lagos State government recently proposed the Tenancy Bill, which, according to the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is aimed at balancing landlord-tenant interests and resolving housing disputes.

Speaking on the bill, currently before the state House of Assembly, Governor Sanwo-Olu said it was designed to promote a fair, transparent rental system across the state and resolve naughty issues between landlords and tenants.

“The bill is aimed at reducing housing conflicts, streamlining tenancy agreements, and ensuring that property owners do not exploit tenants through unfair charges or evictions,” he explained.

Lagos housing crisis

Apart from the challenges of the influx of visitors and pressure on existing infrastructure, Lagos, one of Africa’s fastest-growing cities, is facing a profound housing crisis despite its booming real-estate sector.

Many residents are confronted with soaring rents, limited access to decent housing, and endless battles between landlords and tenants over frequent rent adjustments.

According to the latest edition of the State of Lagos Housing Market Reports (Vol. 3), Lagos’ housing deficit sits at 3.4 million units in 2025, with over 70 per cent of residents in the state being tenants.

Speaking on this, the chairman of the Community Development Council (CDC) in Agbado Oke-Odo LCDA, Mr. Ernest Kasunmu, blamed the rising cost of rents and the huge housing deficit in Lagos State on government inaction.

He advised governments at all levels to invest in constructing housing estates, stressing that such investments would curb rising rents and address the housing deficit.

On the allegation of some landlords using LASBCA to evict tenants, he said, “Some of the tenants are naturally stubborn. They force landlords to use government instruments or agents for evictions. This is not me justifying using LASBCA or any other government agency to evict tenants. It’s not a palatable story, but some tenants are at fault too.”

According to him, the housing crisis persists because the government is not doing enough to address the challenge.

He explained further, “You cannot compare the present administrations to the era of Alhaji Lateef Jakande. How he did it needs to be studied. The Lagos State Government should employ the method Jakande adopted during his tenure to confront the housing challenge in the state.

“Most of our governors travel abroad. They see the systems that operate there, where local authorities build skyscrapers. Can’t local governments build the same in their respective council areas? When former Governor Raji Fashola was governor, he tried something similar in the Isale-gangan area of Lagos Island. He built eight buildings of three storeys each. The original owners were given some apartments, and the rest were allocated.

“If the local government chairmen are mandated to go into such ventures, do you think we will have a housing crisis in Lagos? I was in Israel about 12 years ago where I saw about eight thousand flats of seven-storey buildings each in an estate. Why can’t we adopt such a system? Here we are, wasting land, building 3-bedroom bungalows on a plot. These are some of the issues affecting residents as far as housing in Lagos is concerned.”

A sudden notice, threatened demolition

Disturbed by the seven-day eviction notice and threat of demolition served on their residence by agents of LASBCA, residents now live every day in fear and hopelessness.

According to court filings, the tenants’ ordeal began on October 10, 2025, when LASBCA officials arrived unannounced and pasted a seven-day quit notice, labeling the building distressed and unsafe for habitation.

Some of the tenants who spoke with Saturday Tribune claimed that they are yearly tenants whose rents run through December 2026.

One of the affected tenants, Alfa Muiz Zubair, explained: “They came early in the morning and gave us only seven days to leave. They said the house was about to collapse. How can a bungalow be distressed when it’s not even a storey building?”

Barely two weeks later, on October 21, Zubair said the agency issued another notice ordering the immediate sealing and demolition of the structure.

He stated: “By then, the tenants had rushed to the Magistrate Court in Yaba, seeking to halt the demolition and protect what they called their fundamental right to shelter and fair hearing. To worsen the situation, an agent to the property owner threatened us to remove the roof of the building on or before December 25, 2025. How best can one describe this act other than insensitive and inhumane? Imagine, at a time when the world is celebrating Christmas, he is threatening to render us homeless despite our being up-to-date with our rents.”

For now, the tenants of 24 Ijero Street cling to hope that justice will prevail.

Another tenant, Tunde Oriola, said: “Shelter is a basic human right. We’re not fighting to own the house; we’re only fighting to be treated like humans. Forced evictions have become a recurring theme in Lagos State’s urban renewal drive.

“The story is the same across the state. They cannot subject us to tortuous existence all in the name of safety or modernization. The knowledge that LASBCA is being used to forcefully evict us has shaken our faith in government institutions. Everywhere you look, rent is going up, but purchasing power is decreasing. Now they’re demolishing people’s homes without warning. Where are ordinary Lagosians supposed to go?”

Tenants drag LASBCA, landlords to court

To protect their fundamental rights to decent housing and living, the affected tenants have dragged LASBCA and the landlords before a Yaba Magistrate Court. The hearing is scheduled for November 27.

Counsel for the tenants, Mr. Solomon Fasanmi, filed a suit against LASBCA and the landlords, alleging that the eviction and demolition violated both the Lagos State Tenancy Law of 2011 and constitutional rights to dignity and due process.

“Even if a building is structurally unsafe, the law outlines a clear process – including proper investigation, relocation notice, and alternative arrangements for residents. What happened here was unconstitutional and oppressive. The Lagos authorities must intervene in how the property sector and landlords operate and how far tenants’ rights are protected in the face of urban renewal,” Fasanmi argued.

The lawyer further petitioned the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, the Area Commander, Area C, and the Divisional Police Officer of Iponri Division, accusing LASBCA officials of unjust and inhuman treatment.

Part of the petition reads, “We reiterate our position to state that the agent to the landlord and the landlords inclusive are still pressuring and persistent in their action to evict and demolish our property despite our complaint to the police, who say that nothing can be done to them.”

LASBCA reacts

But the state agency insists it acted in the public interest.

District Head of LASBCA for Ebute-Meta (East), Mrs. Adetoye Aderinsola, denied any wrongdoing, emphasizing that the agency’s mandate is to safeguard lives.

“A bungalow can be distressed if it’s not properly maintained or if there are visible cracks. The building in question showed structural weaknesses. We followed standard procedures and acted to prevent a potential disaster,” she explained.

She dismissed allegations that LASBCA was working on behalf of the property owners, saying: “That’s false. We don’t take orders from landlords. Our concern is public safety, not private disputes.” (Saturday Tribune)