Groups Threaten Mass Action Over Planned Crackdown on Domestic Boreholes in Lagos

Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission (LASWARCO), Oluwabukola Adeyemo

A coalition of 25 civil society organisations, community groups and trade unions has threatened coordinated mass action across Lagos State if the government moves to seal domestic boreholes or prosecute residents for extracting groundwater for household use.

The coalition, under the Our Water Our Right Africa Coalition (OWORAC), said any attempt by the Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission (LASWARCO) to enforce such measures against residential boreholes would be resisted across all local government areas.

The warning follows public concerns over a statement attributed to LASWARCO Executive Secretary, Oluwabukola Adeyemo, that drilling boreholes and extracting groundwater without state authorisation is illegal and could attract property sealing and criminal prosecution.

In a press statement issued on Wednesday, November 4, the coalition urged the commission to clarify the scope of its enforcement, saying its warning had created fear and confusion, particularly in working-class communities.

The groups cited Sections 253(1) and 259(2) of the Lagos State Environmental Management and Protection Law 2017, which they said distinguish between domestic water use and commercial or industrial groundwater extraction.

Section 253(1), according to the coalition, allows residents to construct or use boreholes in residential premises without obtaining a licence where the water is intended for household purposes.

The groups also cited Section 259(2), which they said requires authorisation for boreholes used for purposes other than domestic supply.

“By deliberately omitting these statutory exemptions from its public threats and threatening indiscriminate crackdowns, LASWARCO has overstepped its bounds, creating needless panic among already suffering residents,” the statement said.

The coalition argued that the state should address its inadequate public water supply before taking action against residents who rely on privately funded boreholes.

It cited Lagos Water Corporation records which, it claimed, showed that the corporation had only 34,424 registered connections, representing about 1.03 per cent direct coverage in a city with more than 20 million residents.

The groups added that even if the connections served multiple households, more than 91 per cent of Lagos residents remained without access to the public water network.

“In reality, public taps across the state have been dry for decades, while massive, multi-billion-naira waterworks at Iju, Adiyan, and Ishasi rot away in an embarrassing state of operational underperformance,” the coalition said.

The groups also cited Section 252 of the 2017 law, which they said shields the Lagos Water Corporation from liability for damages arising from the failure or interruption of public water supply.

“A government that actively absolves itself of the constitutional duty to deliver water cannot legitimately turn around to criminalise and extort citizens who were forced to become their own mini-water authorities and service providers despite paying heavy taxes to the state,” the statement added.

The coalition described domestic boreholes as a necessity for many households, but said groundwater contamination had left residents in some communities unable to rely on them safely.

It identified Baruwa, Iludun and Ajegunle as areas affected by alleged petroleum pipeline contamination, while citing sewage pollution and saline intrusion in parts of the Lekki coastal corridor.

The groups said the situation had increased water poverty, forcing some families to spend heavily on water purchased from vendors.

They also noted that residents in areas where groundwater remained usable had developed community-based arrangements, including sharing taps with neighbouring households and pooling funds to pay for electricity or fuel to operate water pumps.

“Rather than criminalising these self-funded lifelines, the state government ought to wear a garb of humility to study and support these community-led models of service delivery,” the statement said.

The coalition further accused LASWARCO of applying different standards to households and multinational companies, citing regulatory engagements with Nigerian Bottling Company, Guinness Nigeria and FrieslandCampina WAMCO in late 2024.

It claimed that the commission had spent more than seven years in discussions with some large commercial water users over compliance issues, while threatening enforcement action against households.

“It is unconscionable that the state could spend years patiently negotiating with multinational corporations guzzling millions of litres for private profit, yet threaten task forces, property sealings, and criminal charges against ordinary citizens drawing water for their pots and buckets,” the groups said.

The coalition also expressed concern that the proposed crackdown could force residents into privately operated prepaid water schemes, describing access to water as a fundamental human right.

“We are not blind to the covert agenda underway. This aggressive threat to criminalise all boreholes is a calculated, manufactured siege designed to herd desperate residents into a captive market,” the statement said.

The groups called on LASWARCO to clarify that domestic boreholes and wells are exempt from licensing under the 2017 law and to assure residents that their properties would not be sealed and they would not face harassment or prosecution for household water use.

They also urged the state government to rehabilitate existing waterworks, expand access to safe piped water and direct regulatory enforcement towards high-volume commercial abstractors and industrial polluters.

The coalition opposed the privatisation of the Lagos Water Corporation and called for reforms that would give workers, communities, trade unions and civil society organisations a direct role in the management of the utility.

It urged Community Development Associations, youth councils, labour unions, artisans, market women and neighbourhood networks to remain organised and prepared to defend access to domestic water.

“The state is formally put on notice that any attempt by LASWARCO or armed task forces to enter residential communities, demand illegal permits, or seal domestic boreholes will be treated as an unlawful provocation and met with immediate legal, public, and coordinated mass resistance across every community in Lagos,” the statement warned.

The statement was jointly signed by 25 representatives of civil society organisations, trade unions and community groups, including Adewale Ojo, Chairman of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Lagos State; Dagga Tollar, Secretary of the Movement for Socialist Alternative (MSA); Miriam Ginika John, President of the Rowgles Advocacy Initiative; Chief Akeem Muraina Mosunro, Baale of Ifako Tuntun (Onibari 1), Ifako Ijaiye Community; Towolawi Jamiu, PRO of Oworo Youth Forum (OYF); Adebayo Saheed Adedeji of the Movement for African Emancipation.

Zikora Ibeh, Assistant Executive Director of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA); Ibrahim Oluwatobiloba, President of Voices of the Masses and Support for Credible Leadership; Balogun Hameed, Director of Research at Frontline Socio-Economy Research Centre; Tunde Yusuf, Secretary of Ajegunle People’s Movement (APM); Okechukwu Nwanguma, Executive Director of the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC); Peluola Adewale, National Mobilisation Officer of Joint Action Front (JAF); and Alex Omotehinse, President of the Centre for Human and Socio-economic Rights (CHSR).

Others are Hassan Taiwo Soweto of the #EndBadGovernance Movement, Lagos State; Gbenga Komolafe, General Secretary of the Federation of Informal Workers Organisation of Nigeria (FIWON); Akin Okunowo, National Coordinator of the Anti-Cult Alliance Movement (ACAM); Felix Ikupolosi, Chairman of Iludun Town Association; Rufus Olusesan, National President of the Precision, Electrical and Related Equipment Senior Staff Association (PERESSA); James Oyewole, Chairman of Baruwa Water Pollution, Baruwa Community; Oladunni Segun of the Amilcar Cabral Ideological School – Movement (ACIS-M).

Mary George-Peluola, Director of the Women Advocate Research Documentation Centre (WARDC); Chinedu Bosah, National Secretary of the Campaign for Democratic and Workers Rights (CDWR); Comrade Philip Imonikhe, President of the Pulp, Paper and Paper Products, Printing and Publishing Senior Staff Association of Nigeria; Comrade Dare Adeyemo, Chairman of the Lagos State Council of the National Union of Nigeria Welders (NUNIWE); and Comrade Adeola Adepegba, National President of the Nigeria Union of Private Cab Operators (NUPCO).