After Communal Clash Kills Four, Lagos Moves to Clear Ikola Power-Line Shanties

After Communal Clash Kills Four, Lagos Moves to Clear Ikola Power-Line Shanties 

 

The Lagos State Government has launched a controlled demolition of shanties and other illegal structures beneath high-tension power lines in Ikola, Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area, barely two days after a communal clash in the area claimed four lives.

The demolition, being led by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) in partnership with the Lagos State Police Command and the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), is aimed at removing structures located within the statutory right-of-way of high-voltage electricity transmission lines.

The government said the deadly violence had exposed not only the security challenges confronting the community but also the potentially fatal environmental hazards created by the proliferation of informal settlements under the power lines.

In a statement on Saturday, LASEMA Permanent Secretary, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said the recent confrontation between members of the Hausa and Yoruba communities had heightened concerns over the safety and security of residents in the area.

According to him, the extensive informal settlements beneath the high-voltage lines posed serious risks, including electrocution, fire outbreaks and structural collapse, and violated applicable national and international safety standards.

He said emergency and security agencies were immediately deployed to Ikola following the unrest to restore order, protect lives and prevent further escalation.

Oke-Osanyintolu said the demolition operation commenced only after residents affected by the exercise had been given adequate notice to evacuate and remove their belongings.

“The operation was preceded by adequate notice to affected residents. Communities were granted ample time to safely evacuate and recover personal belongings before the commencement of any demolition activity,” he said.

LASEMA said heavy recovery equipment was deployed to ensure that the structures within the power-line corridor were removed in a controlled and coordinated manner.

The agency also stressed that the operation was not directed at any ethnic group, despite the communal nature of the violence that preceded it.

“This intervention is therefore not targeted at any ethnic group or community, but at a dangerous structural reality that threatens everyone living in its path,” Oke-Osanyintolu said.

The state government acknowledged that residents had legitimate needs for shelter and means of livelihood, but maintained that such considerations could not override the obligation of authorities to prevent avoidable deaths.

The government argued that no development could be regarded as sustainable where it exposed residents to foreseeable and preventable dangers.

The intervention followed a deadly clash at the Power Line Bus Stop, Ikola, on Thursday, in which four adult males were killed after a disagreement reportedly escalated into communal violence.

LASEMA had also reported that several makeshift structures were burnt during the unrest, while a number of people sustained injuries.

The Lagos State Police Command subsequently confirmed that calm had been restored in the area.

The state government said it would continue consultations with community leaders, traditional rulers and other stakeholders in Ikola to strengthen peaceful coexistence and enforce urban planning and safety regulations.

It urged residents to cooperate with the demolition exercise, stressing that the objective was to eliminate dangerous structures, restore order around the power-line corridor and prevent another avoidable loss of lives.