Key Points

• Lagos waterfront demolition leaves hundreds homeless in Oworonshoki.

• Residents sell off belongings to survive after losing homes.

• Victims say they received no notice or support from the government.

Days after the Lagos State Government carried out a midnight demolition of waterfront homes on Tolu Alashe Street in Oworonshoki, hundreds of residents remain stranded in the open.

Most are women and children sleeping amid rubble, uncertain about what comes next.

When reporters visited the area on Tuesday, the once-busy community had become a wasteland.

The air was thick with dust from broken walls and twisted roofing sheets. Scattered household items lay abandoned on the ground where families once shared meals and laughter.

Selling off memories to survive

Many residents sat beside piles of their belongings, trying to sell off what little they had left.

Among them was Mrs. Rebecca, a mother of one who looked exhausted and in pain.

She said she had recently been discharged from the hospital after a spinal injury.

“I came back that night hoping to sell a few things,” she said softly. “Before I knew it, they came and destroyed everything.

I had just finished paying N360,000 for my two-room apartment. I thought about ending my life, but my sister stopped me.”

Rebecca said she now sells her remaining possessions, including a standing fan she once bought for N35,000, to scrap buyers for as little as N1,000.

“I don’t have a choice,” she said. “I need money to eat and take my drugs. Everywhere I turn, there is no help.”

Across the dusty street, scrap buyers known locally as aboki were seen haggling with displaced women, offering small amounts for furniture and electronics.

Families recount the midnight raid

Another resident, Mrs. Jumai, said she had lived in the area for a decade. She recalled how her family narrowly escaped when the bulldozers arrived around 11 p.m.

“We were asleep when people started shouting that they were coming,” she said. “We ran out with only the clothes we had on.

My shop where I sold pepper soup and drinks was right beside my house. They broke everything.”

Jumai said her children’s school was also destroyed. “We stayed near the school. Now it’s gone.

I don’t even know how to start again,” she said, holding her youngest child close.

Community in ruins

Everywhere in Oworonshoki, there are traces of sudden loss. Some residents still search through the debris for documents, clothes, or cooking pots.

Others sit quietly, watching strangers carry off metal scraps from what used to be their homes.

As of Wednesday, no official shelter or relief materials had been provided for the displaced families.

Many say they have not received any explanation or notice from the state government.

For now, the people of Oworonshoki wait by the ruins, selling what they can to survive another day.