Between 2025 and April 2026, enforcement teams in Lagos State demolished or removed 1,544 structures illegally built on drainage channels across the city, according to data released by the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources.
The Drainage Enforcement and Compliance Department identified a total of 2,218 structures across various communities that were found to be obstructing drainage alignments. Of these, 1,544 were successfully cleared, representing a 70 per cent enforcement rate. The remaining 674 structures were not removed during the review period, with no timeline provided for their clearance.
The figures were disclosed at the ministry’s annual press briefing held at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa.
Officials said drainage obstruction remains a major driver of flooding in Lagos, a low-lying coastal megacity frequently affected by heavy rainfall that overwhelms its drainage systems, damages infrastructure, and disrupts livelihoods.
The city’s drainage network—made up of primary channels that discharge into the lagoon and secondary collectors feeding into them—depends on clear pathways to function effectively. Authorities warned that illegal construction along these routes causes water backflow into residential areas.
Beyond demolitions, the department restored 12 kilometres of primary channels and cleared 123.5 metres of drainage right-of-way during the same period. Rapid-response teams also cleaned about 210 kilometres of secondary and tertiary drains across all 20 local government areas, including emergency interventions during flooding events.
In addition, nine facilities were sealed for illegal wetland encroachment in areas such as Ogombo, Lekki Phase II, Itoikin-Epe, and Majidun in Ikorodu—sites officials said are critical natural buffers against flooding.
The enforcement effort highlights the long-standing challenge of unregulated construction in Lagos, where development has often extended into designated drainage corridors and environmental protection zones.
The ministry also revealed that contracts have been awarded for over 100 kilometres of new secondary drains and 30 kilometres of primary channels between April 2025 and April 2026, aimed at expanding the city’s drainage capacity.
Flooding continues to impose significant economic losses in Lagos, with estimates suggesting damages running into billions of naira annually. A separate briefing from the Lagos State Ministry of Finance projected that climate inaction could cost the city nearly $40 billion by 2050.
