‘Nigeria is lawless’, says Peter Obi after alleged demolition of Brother’s property in Lagos

Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has expressed deep concern over what he described as Nigeria’s growing culture of lawlessness following the demolition of his younger brother’s company property in Ikeja, Lagos.

Obi, in a statement released via his official Facebook page on Tuesday, criticised the alleged illegal act and the worsening state of civil rights in the country.

He narrated how he received a distress call from his brother, who returned from Port Harcourt only to discover that unknown individuals had begun demolishing the company’s property, and security officials on site denied him access. Obi said he rushed from Abuja to Lagos to witness the situation firsthand and was similarly prevented from entering.

According to him, the demolition was allegedly backed by a questionable court judgment obtained against an “unknown person” and unnamed squatters, with no official notice or identified defendant. “How do you sue an unknown person? How does a court issue a judgment in such a farce of a case?” Obi asked.

The former Anambra State governor condemned the apparent impunity and lack of accountability surrounding the incident, revealing that attempts to contact the contractors or authorities behind the exercise proved futile. He said the contractor on site even claimed ignorance of who authorised the operation.

Obi reflected on a conversation he recently had with a businessman operating across West Africa, who bluntly told him that he would never invest in Nigeria because of its lawlessness and lack of legal protection for businesses and citizens. He expressed concern that the country’s worsening human rights indicators and weak institutional protections would discourage both local and foreign investment.

Questioning the future of the country, Obi stressed the need for a system where the rights and properties of citizens are respected and protected. “What kind of country are we trying to build when the rights of citizens, their lives, their properties, and their voices are trampled upon daily?” he asked.

Despite the ordeal, Peter Obi reaffirmed his unwavering commitment to advocating for a better Nigeria where law and order would prevail, and the rights of all citizens would be upheld.