Key Points

• A pharmaceutical company’s sand-filling project has blocked a major canal in Ijora Badia, Lagos, submerging Ajeromi Nursery and Primary School and leaving children unable to attend classes.
• Community Development Association chairman Raymond Tejujaiye says about 300 houses have been hit since the project began in 2025, with peak rainy season still ahead and the risk of displacement growing by the day.
• Up to 5,000 residents face being pushed out of their homes, yet Lagos State’s Ministry of Environment said it was unaware of the crisis and had not responded as of press time.

A pharmaceutical company’s construction project has flooded a primary school in Lagos and is pushing thousands of residents in Ijora Badia, Apapa Local Government Area, toward displacement, with local authorities apparently having no knowledge of the crisis until a journalist came knocking.

Residents say sand-filling activities on the company’s building site, which sits on a large swampy expanse covering Badia East and West, have been steadily redirecting mud into a major drainage canal since September 2025. With the rains returning, the blocked canal has nowhere to push the water except into homes, roads and classrooms.

Children wading to school, then turning back

Ajeromi Nursery and Primary School in Badia has been submerged. Pupils who attempted to attend last week were wading through floodwaters just to reach their classrooms. Most simply turned back.

Funke Edamisor, a parent in the community, said the situation had made attending school impossible. “The school is filled with floodwater, making it hard for people to move because of the project they are carrying out,” she said.

“It is bringing water into the area. We are begging them to help us fix this issue so our children can go to school.”

Another parent, Christian Francis, said his children had been home for days. They were too young to wade through the water safely and he had no reliable way to get them there.

“The children have not been able to go to school for days because they are too young to pass through the water,” he said. “We are pleading for help so our children can continue their education.”

Some parents have already withdrawn their children from the school entirely. Not all can afford to. One single mother explained that Ajeromi was the closest school to her home and the only one within her budget. Moving her child elsewhere would cost more than she could manage.

300 homes already under water

Raymond Tejujaiye, chairman of the Community Development Association in Badia, said the pharmaceutical company, whose identity was not confirmed, began sand-filling the site last year and has steadily pushed mud from the swamp into the community’s main drainage canal, cutting off the waterway that previously handled runoff from the area.

About 300 houses have been affected, with floodwaters already encroaching on several homes. Tejujaiye warned that conditions would worsen significantly as the rainy season intensifies and said more families would be forced to relocate if the canal was not cleared quickly.

This crisis has been building for months. Residents accused the company of commencing sand-filling without adequate drainage or protective measures, alleging that the activity redirected water flow into the community and blocked a nearby canal.

No fewer than 5,000 residents were earlier reported to be at risk of displacement due to flooding caused by the blocked canal. Since that warning, the situation has grown worse, and some families have already abandoned their homes.

Government’s answer: ‘I will notify the director’

When a correspondent reached Adekunle Adesina, spokesperson for the Lagos State Ministry of Environment, the reply was not reassuring. Adesina said he was unaware of the flooding and would pass the information to the director in charge. He had not followed up as of press time.

Lagos State authorities had earlier warned residents living along flood plains in areas including Badia and Ijora to remain vigilant and be prepared to relocate if necessary.

What those advisories did not account for was a private construction project that had already made displacement an active reality for hundreds of the same residents they were warning.

Community leaders are calling for the canal to be restored and proper drainage infrastructure installed before the rainy season peaks. Each week without action, they say, means more children kept from school, more families sleeping next to water and more pressure on a community that was already at the edge.