Peter Obi, Labour Party presidential candidate in 2023, has raised concerns over what he described as Nigeria’s deepening descent into lawlessness, following the demolition of his brother’s company property in Ikeja, Lagos, without any clear legal backing.
In a statement on Tuesday, Obi described how he received a frantic call from his youngest brother informing him that a group of unidentified people had invaded their family’s property and began demolishing it, allegedly based on a court order against “unknown persons.”
“This morning, my youngest brother called me frantically, informing me that a group of people had invaded his company property in Ikeja, Lagos, and were demolishing the building,” Obi said.
“He had just come in from Port Harcourt and was denied entry… They even informed him that this demolition had started over the weekend.”
Obi said he rushed from Abuja to Lagos and was met by security men who tried to prevent him from entering the property. When he requested to see the court judgment authorising the demolition, he was shocked to find it was issued against unnamed individuals.
“You would not believe that the court judgment they claim was issued against an unknown person, and squatters,” Obi said.
“How do you sue an unknown person? How does a court issue a judgment in such a farce of a case? No one was served. No name was written. Yet they showed up with excavators and began destroying a structure that had stood for over 15 years.”
Even more disturbing, Obi added, was that none of the workers present could identify who had authorised the demolition.
“I asked the excavators for the person who had sent them, and they said they didn’t know anyone,” he said. “The contractor even said he didn’t know who sent him… The whole situation screamed of coordinated lawlessness and impunity. Our country has become lawless.”
Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, lamented that if such blatant abuse of rights could happen to someone with legitimate means and legal ownership, the average Nigerian faces even grimmer prospects.
“I know what I have been going through as a person in abuse of my human rights just because I contested a Presidential election, which I have legitimate rights to do,” he said. “So I imagine what small business owners, regular citizens, and vulnerable communities face every day.”
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Obi tied the experience to broader concerns about the state of governance and Nigeria’s poor investment climate, recounting a recent conversation with an investor.
“Just over the weekend, I had a meeting when someone told me how he has investments in Ghana, Senegal, and the Benin Republic, but won’t touch Nigeria… His answer was piercing: ‘Nigeria is a lawless country. Until we have laws that protect people, nobody will invest in Nigeria,” he wrote.
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He linked Nigeria’s worsening human rights indicators to systemic failures in upholding civil liberties, security, and basic protections.
“Any society where lawlessness overrides the rule of law is not destined to be a haven for investors,” he warned.
Obi reaffirmed his commitment to building a country where rights are respected and lawlessness is no longer tolerated.
“I remain committed to a better Nigeria where lawlessness will be a thing of the past, protection of life and property, respect for human rights, care for the less privileged, and basic education for all children,” he said.
See picture from the demolition below
