Christiana Babapitan, a resident of Makoko, has said her six-year-old son died after inhaling teargas during a Lagos State Government demolition exercise in January. The operation, which targeted structures beneath high-tension power lines in the waterfront community, involved security operatives firing teargas to disperse residents. Babapitan recounted that she was inside a boat trying to secure belongings and call her children to safety when her son collapsed while running amid the chaos. He was taken to a hospital but could not be revived.
She described the boy as her only son among six children, saying his death has left her deeply devastated. No government official has contacted her family since the incident, she added. When they reported the death, authorities dismissed it as false, questioning why the child was buried without government notice, even after evidence was presented. The family now sleeps in a boat after losing their home.
The Lagos State Government maintains that evacuation notices were issued over two years prior, citing safety risks from buildings under power lines. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu stated the exercise was not aimed at demolishing all of Makoko but preventing potential disasters. Dr. Olajide Babatunde, the governor's Special Adviser on eGIS and Urban Development, called it part of a broader safety initiative. Rights groups and residents have condemned the demolitions, accusing the government of forced evictions and land grabbing. An estimated 30,000 people were displaced.
A child's death from teargas during a government demolition has gone officially unacknowledged, despite a mother's public account and the Lagos State Government's defence of the operation. When a grieving parent is met with disbelief instead of investigation, it signals a system more invested in justifying force than accounting for its consequences. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu's safety rationale rings hollow to families like Babapitan's, who lost a son and now live in a boat. If this is urban renewal, many in Makoko are paying a price the state refuses to even admit.
