Falana reacts to midnight demolitions in Lagos, Abuja
Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has condemned the continuing wave of demolitions in Abuja and Lagos, calling them unconstitutional, unlawful, and a grave violation of residents’ fundamental rights to property.
Falana, speaking during a live interview on The Morning Show, an Arise News program, insisted that no governor, minister, or political officeholder in Nigeria has the constitutional authority to unilaterally order the demolition of buildings, regardless of the alleged infractions.
According to him, both the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the Lagos State Government have acted outside the law in their demolition drives, which have rendered thousands of families homeless.
“Under our constitutional arrangement, no governor or minister has the power to wake up one morning and order that someone’s house be demolished. You must follow due process. The law requires that statutory notices be issued, complaints heard, and the proper tribunal or court must decide before any demolition can occur,” he declared.
He explained that Section 43 of the Nigerian Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to acquire and own property anywhere in the country, a right also reinforced by Article 14 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
“The provisions of Chapter Four of the Constitution are sacrosanct. They cannot be breached under any guise — not even by ministers or governors claiming to restore order,” he said.
The senior advocate condemned the recent demolitions in Abuja ordered by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and the controversial midnight demolition of the Oworonshoki community in Lagos, describing both as “acts of executive lawlessness.”
He noted that in Abuja, the Urban and Regional Planning Tribunal, established by law to handle such matters, had been sidelined, while in Lagos a subsisting court order restraining demolition was allegedly ignored.
“In the Lagos case, our law firm obtained a restraining order from the High Court. The order was duly served on the government, yet, in the dead of night, bulldozers rolled into Oworonshoki. That was a clear contempt of court,” he added.
He vowed that the victims of the demolitions would seek redress, revealing that similar cases had previously led to heavy damages being awarded against government authorities.
“In Abuja, the court recently awarded ¦ 200 million against the FCT for unlawful demolition. In Lagos, ¦ 3.5 billion was awarded for the Makoko demolitions. The victims will get justice again,” he said.
Falana lamented that some government officials have become more reckless in a democracy than military dictators once were.
He said: “Even under the military, the courts insisted that due process must be followed. What we are seeing now is worse. You cannot demolish people’s homes while they are asleep, tear-gas their houses, and claim to be enforcing the law. We are not in Gaza.”
The senior advocate also reacted to the recent controversy surrounding the Presidential Committee on Prerogative of Mercy, chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation.
He described the erroneous inclusion of unqualified names in the presidential pardon list as a national embarrassment and called for accountability.
“Those who recommended convicted persons for pardon when they were not eligible should face sanctions. It is not enough to quietly withdraw the names. The Attorney-General owes the nation an apology for this colossal embarrassment,” he declared.
Despite skepticism about enforcement, Falana insisted that the courts remain the ultimate avenue for justice and vowed to hold the violators accountable.
“Wherever victims of injustice come to us, we do not turn them away. We will ensure that justice is done, even if the heavens collapse. Nobody is above the law in this country,” he declared.
