SPECIAL REPORT: Inside Lagos communities where public drains have become sewage channels

PREMIUM TIMES visited several communities on Lagos Island and found residential buildings discharging wastewater and sewage into public drains, exposing residents to health risks despite environmental laws prohibiting the practice.

Just after dawn on a humid morning in May, Enomfon Okure stepped out of her apartment on Braimoh-Igbo Street in Itafaji, Lagos Island, preparing for another workday in nearby Ikoyi.

The stench had become part of her mornings since January 2025, when she moved into the neighbourhood with her family.

Beside the road, black wastewater flowed slowly through an open drainage channel. At intervals, more toilet waste gushed from pipes protruding from nearby buildings and emptied directly into the drain.

Flies hovered over the murky water as pedestrians squeezed along the narrow walkway, trying to avoid contact with it.

For Mrs Okure, a nurse and mother of four, the scene has become an inescapable part of daily life.

“I am struggling to survive here,” she told PREMIUM TIMES.

“My husband rented this place because it is close to my office in Ikoyi. But when I arrived, I discovered that almost all the gutters in the area receive wastewater from houses. Some of them even carry human waste.”

Her greatest concern, she said, was the safety of her children.

“I don’t allow them to play outside because if they fall into the gutter, it will be dangerous,” she said.

Eventually, Mrs Okure said the situation became unbearable.

“I discussed it with my husband and decided to send the children back to Akwa Ibom to stay with relatives,” she said. “This environment is a gateway to diseases.”

Over several weeks, PREMIUM TIMES visited Braimoh-Igbo Street, Obe Street, Alli Street, Massey Street, Kakawa Street, Okepopo Street, Isale Gangan Street, Adeniji Adele, Tinubu Square and other parts of Lagos Island.

Across residential and commercial areas, this newspaper observed pipes from buildings discharging wastewater and toilet water directly into public drainage channels.

The problem extends beyond residential areas.

At Tinubu Square, one of Lagos Island’s busiest commercial centres, traders told PREMIUM TIMES that wastewater and sewage from public toilets and commercial buildings flow into the drainage network serving the area.

David Nonso, who sells clothing materials there, said traders had endured the foul smell for years.

“All the toilets in this market are connected to the drainage,” he said.

“When people flush, everything goes into the gutters. The smell can be terrible, especially when it rains or when the weather is very hot.”

PREMIUM TIMES observed wastewater and sewage flowing through open drains beside rows of shops as traders and shoppers moved through the commercial district.

Mr Nonso attributed the problem partly to the dense development on Lagos Island, where buildings are packed closely together.

“Their houses are too close to each other,” he said. “Nobody is even giving space for somebody to do soakaway.”

Ibrahim Abubakar, a tailor in the area, also said wastewater regularly flows through the drains in front of the market.

Another trader, Emeka Uzor, who sells electrical goods, expressed concern about the health implications for traders, customers and residents who come into contact with the polluted environment.

“The drainage was meant to carry rainwater, but now it carries everything,” Mr Nonso said. “People have become used to it because it has been happening for years.”

He said a disease outbreak in such a crowded commercial area could affect far more than the traders who work there.

“When disease breaks out, it affects everybody,” he said. “Even our children don’t come there because it is very bad. If somebody falls into that gutter, that one is terrible.”

PREMIUM TIMES also found another practice that could complicate efforts to inspect and maintain public drains.

In several locations, sections of drainage channels disappeared beneath buildings before re-emerging further down the street.

On parts of Braimoh-Igbo Street, Obe Street and adjoining roads, the newspaper observed buildings sitting over sections of drainage channels, leaving parts of the drains inaccessible from the street.