Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has accused the Lagos State Government of demolishing over 100 properties in Oworonsoki despite a valid court order halting the exercise.
Justice Adegboyega Balogun of the Lagos High Court had last Thursday granted an interim injunction restraining the government, its agents, and contractors from further demolitions or creating third-party interests in parts of the Itesiwaju Ajumoni CDA, including Ojileru Street, Ososa Extension, and Toluwalase Street.
Despite the ruling, Falana said the government went ahead with the demolitions, displacing several families. “In flagrant breach of the subsisting order, the defendants mobilised over 50 armed policemen and thugs, who fired teargas through the night to disperse protesters before commencing a fresh demolition,” he stated.
He described the action as a “sad reminder” of the 1986 Supreme Court case Military Governor of Lagos State v. Ojukwu, where the court condemned government defiance of judicial authority even under military rule.
Quoting the late Justice Obaseki, Falana reiterated that no government should resort to self-help when a matter is before a court, saying, “In a nation governed by the rule of law, self-help by force must be abandoned.”
