•Peter Obi and the demolition
The Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has called on the Lagos State government to balance law enforcement with compassion in its ongoing demolition of structures.
Obi’s advice comes days after visiting the site of the demolished ASPAMDA Market at the Trade Fair Complex, reports Channels TV.
The former Anambra State governor emphasised that legal justification should not override moral responsibility.
He criticised the destruction of traders’ plazas, describing it as a test of the government’s commitment to justice, equity, and human dignity.
The Lagos State government had last week defended the action, with the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Olumide Oluyinka, insisting that the exercise was technical and not targeted at any ethnic group as being suggested in some quarters.
In a statement shared on his X handle today, Peter Obi cautioned that the law should never be enforced in a manner that causes “undeserved pain” or destroys livelihoods, especially when less harmful alternatives are available.
To illustrate his point, Obi recounted a personal experience overseas, emphasizing that responsible governments follow due legal processes rather than resorting to sudden demolitions of homes or businesses.
“Those seeking to justify the current demolitions in Aspamda Market Lagos, and similar situations across Nigeria must be reminded that the law is not an end in itself; it is a means to ensure order, peace, and the protection of human dignity. When the law becomes an instrument to inflict undeserved pain – enforced without compassion or regard for human welfare – it ceases to serve justice.
“Even if, for the sake of argument, some of the affected traders failed to obtain the proper approvals, which is unlikely, was demolition the only option? If opportunities for regularisation truly existed, as some have argued, why were they not pursued? Does it truly serve justice to destroy billions of naira worth of investments and livelihoods when less destructive remedies could have sufficed?
“It is like punishing a man who stole a bicycle with death instead of imprisonment – a sentence grossly disproportionate to the offence. That is what these demolitions represent: a punishment that far outweighs any alleged infraction.
“My appeal is simple: governance must always balance law with compassion. A government should not pride itself on being legally correct if, in the process, it becomes morally wrong. Justice, to be just, must be tempered with mercy.
“These demolitions are a test of our collective humanity, justice, and compassion. Power must always be exercised with empathy – for it is in how we treat the vulnerable that the true character of leadership is revealed,” Obi said.
