Singer Yemi Alade Criticizes Lagos Demolition, Accusing Authorities of Making People Homeless

Popular Nigerian singer, Yemi Alade, has decried the demolition exercise carried out at Mende Estate Villa, Lagos on Saturday.

Alade stated that such action would discourage those interested in investing in real estate in the state.

The state Commissioner of Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, had said the demolition was needed to reclaim the Odo Iya Laro drainage channel.

“Earlier today, I, the SA on Environment, Olakunle Rotimi-Akodu, the PS OES, Dr Omobolaji Gaji, PS ODS, Mahamood Adegbite and other Directors again visited the ongoing reclamation of the drainage setback on System 1 (Odo Iyalaro – Ogudu reach),” Wahab wrote on X on Saturday.

However reacting, the Johnny crooner, in a video that surfaced on X Sunday, decried how many residents sleep in their houses and wake homeless.

“Lagos State, what is going on? Does it make sense that people will invest millions of naira, millions of dollars into real estate?

“They would buy land and Lagos State would break them; making people homeless overnight. This is done serially. Right now Maryland area is on fire,” she said.

She continued, “ People are sleeping in their houses and waking homeless. You are ruining the real estate value of the state, the country; making people lose trust in the idea of the country.”

In October and November 2023, several buildings were demolished in Lekki, Ikota, the International Trade Fair, Agungi, and some parts of the state.

The state government had attributed the demolitions to the illegal siting of the buildings.

The Director, Ministry of Environment, Director of Public Affairs, Kunle Adeshina advising property owners whose buildings were yet to be demolished, stressed that the demolition would address “the issue of perennial flooding which has led to avoidable damage to property and caused fatalities in some instances.”