The Lagos State Government has sealed a construction site in the Bode Thomas area of Surulere following protests by residents opposing plans to convert the land into a cemetery.
Residents of the Natufe/Animashaun community staged a peaceful protest on Saturday despite heavy rain, warning that the project posed serious health and environmental risks to the neighbourhood.
Carrying placards with messages such as “No Cemetery in Our Community” and “Protect Our Health,” the protesters alleged that the developer, identified as Olumide Amure, resumed work on the site without addressing earlier objections raised by the community.
The site, a large expanse of land bordered by homes, a church, and a school, was said to have been under development for several weeks before government intervention.
Reacting to the development, the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, said the state government had acted swiftly to halt the project, assuring residents that “the burial ground site has been sealed, and no such project will be developed there,” adding that “the people need not worry.”
Community leaders described the sealing as a relief, noting that it was not the first time the developer had attempted to establish a cemetery in the area.
Mrs. Omolabake Braimoh, Chairperson of the Natufe/Animashaun Community Development Association (CDA), said residents had previously resisted a similar attempt two years ago. She explained that “the developer tried it before, and we opposed it.
Now he has resumed work again, building day and night. We heard he planned to create two cemeteries — one for adults and another for children.
We rely solely on borehole water, and such a project would contaminate it.”
She added that the community had petitioned the Coker-Aguda Local Council Development Area and would write to relevant state agencies to ensure the project remains permanently stopped.
A former CDA chairman, Mr. Olanrewaju Olaniyan, corroborated her account, saying previous government intervention had halted the same developer’s plans years ago.
According to him, “during my tenure, this same developer was stopped after we escalated the matter to the state level.
We have all the documents, and I don’t believe Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu would approve such a project.”
Olaniyan warned that locating a burial site in a residential area would endanger public health, noting that “once burials begin here, the groundwater will be polluted.
This is not development — it’s an invitation to disaster. The community will resist it again.”
When contacted, the developer, Mr. Amure, declined immediate comment and had not responded to follow-up messages as of press time.
Officials confirmed that the site would remain sealed pending further investigation, stressing that the state would not permit a cemetery within the residential zone.