Residents have condemned Lagos State government’s response to the tragedy that struck again in Ikorodu, where water erosion swept through homes, displacing families, damaging property, leaving many stranded without shelter or direction.
They said that what should have triggered an immediate emergency response from the state government was instead met with a shocking and dismissive comment from the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, who advised the affected residents to “vacate the area.”
“Such a response, according to them, is not only deeply disappointing but also a clear display of administrative incompetence and insensitivity to the suffering of ordinary Lagos residents.
“This is not just a natural disaster; it is also a reflection of governance failure under the APC-led administration in Lagos State,” the residents stated.
“If the government is instructing residents to vacate their homes, where exactly are they supposed to go? Are they being advised to relocate to the king’s palace, the mayor’s compound, the police barracks, or simply into the streets? Telling people to vacate without a plan for relocation, shelter, or support is not governance; it is abandonment.
“The erosion problem in Ikorodu is not new. Residents have complained for years. Environmentalists have warned. Experts have offered solutions. Yet, little or nothing has been done. Drainage systems remain clogged, urban planning is ignored, and emergency preparedness is nearly non-existent in most suburbs of Lagos. The same pattern of neglect replays itself every rainy season, flood, displacement, and silence from the top.
“Instead of words of empathy and a rollout of emergency plans, what the public got was a callous order to leave.
That is not leadership; that is an abdication of duty,” the residents added.
They, therefore, urged the state government to provide emergency relief & temporary shelters, supply food, clean water, medical care, and bedding to affected persons, provide rapid environmental assessment, and give direct support.
