A coalition of civil society organisations stormed the Lagos office of the Federal Ministry of Works on Wednesday, accusing the Minister, Dave Umahi, of manipulating the realignment of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway for personal gain. The demonstrators alleged that this controversial decision has resulted in the destruction of over $250 million worth of foreign direct investment and the reported abduction of private citizens through military involvement.
Armed with placards and chanting boldly, the protesters denounced the abrupt shift in the road alignment, branding it as “fraudulent, self-serving and insensitive.” Some placards bore messages such as: “We support coastal roads but reject this fraud,” and “Umahi, bring back Obanla, abducted with soldiers from his site.”
They demanded that Umahi be held responsible for the financial losses and disruption inflicted on private properties, investors, and host communities. The group claimed the realignment was executed without due consultation, consideration, or compensation, despite the heavy investments made by Nigerians both home and abroad.
The protesters stated that numerous landowners and developers—many of them Nigerians in the diaspora—have been blindsided by the new route, which reportedly veered sharply from the originally approved alignment.
“This reckless act by the Minister will further destroy investor trust, especially among diaspora Nigerians who now have reasons to hesitate before investing back home,” one of the organisers said.
Beyond financial loss, the coalition alleged that some officials within the ministry demanded bribes from property owners in exchange for sparing their land during the route selection. According to them, this criminal manipulation has shifted the burden of loss onto unsuspecting individuals.
More alarming, however, were the accusations of state-sponsored harassment. The coalition accused Minister Umahi of deploying military personnel to forcefully suppress resistance from landowners and investors. A particularly disturbing example cited was that of Mr. Ola Obanla, allegedly seized by soldiers at a construction site owned by WinHomes.
They claimed that Obanla was taken away after warnings were issued to his site workers to vacate the area. Since his disappearance, neither his family nor colleagues have been able to locate him, despite contacting several military commands in the area.
The protesters expressed fears over what they called “state-enabled enforced disappearances,” condemning the militarisation of a public infrastructure project and calling on the Nigerian Army to prevent its personnel from being used as political enforcers in civil matters.
“The use of armed soldiers to kidnap citizens on the instruction of a serving minister is an assault on democracy,” the coalition said, adding that, “Umahi must be restrained from using the military to enforce unlawful actions, and the Army must immediately pull its personnel from his reach.”
They further demanded that the whereabouts of Mr. Obanla be made known, and that affected investors be fully compensated.
Multiple attempts by Chronicles Reporter to reach the Minister’s Special Adviser, Uchenna Orji, for a response were unsuccessful. She did not return calls or respond to messages as of press time.
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