40,000 Displaced and a Church Turned Shelter: Faith Amid Lagos’ Waterfront Demolitions

• More than 40,000 people were displaced from Makoko, according to the UN
• Over 3,000 homes were demolished between December 2025 and February 2026
• Methodist Church Makoko sheltered more than 40 displaced people
• At least one resident lost both home and church

Lagos State’s demolitions in the Makoko waterfront community left tens of thousands homeless and put local churches on the front line, Christianity Today reported on 12 March 2026. More than 3,000 homes were demolished, and a UN estimate put the number displaced at more than 40,000. Before the evictions, the community was home to as many as 300,000 people.

The demolitions began in December 2025 and were halted in February 2026. Residents described having no time to save their belongings. “They didn’t even give me time to collect anything from my house,” said Andrew Samuel. One resident’s church was demolished along with their home.

The Methodist Church Makoko, a Global Methodist congregation, became a refuge, sheltering more than 40 displaced people. Joshua Idowu, 37, runs soccer clinics for more than 60 boys, combining Christian mentoring with training, and has turned to the church facility as a refuge. “I also use this as an opportunity to teach them [Christian] morals,” he said. He worried about boys who had vanished in the upheaval: “They don’t have phones. And I don’t know where they were relocated to.”

The Makoko evictions show how quickly informal communities, including their churches, can be erased when the state moves to clear land. People with no recognised title have little legal protection, and congregations built in such places share their members’ insecurity.

At the same time, the story shows the practical role churches can play when housing collapses: a standing building with a roof becomes a shelter, a meeting point and a lifeline.

Jamaica has its own informal settlements and its own history of evictions. Churches in these communities can serve members twice over: by helping people pursue land titles and regularisation before a crisis, and by preparing their buildings, with water, sanitation and space, to act as shelters when disaster, natural or man-made, strikes.