Wastewater and sewage flowing through an open drainage channel along Braimoh-Igbo Street, Itafaji, Lagos Island. Photo Credit: Emmanuel Agbo/PREMIUM TIMES
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.
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Before taking a few steps, she instinctively covered her nose.
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.
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“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.
A pipe discharging wastewater from a building into an open drainage channel on Braimoh-Igbo Street, Itafaji, Lagos Island. Photo Credit: Emmanuel Agbo/PREMIUM TIMES
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.
A section of a drainage channel running beneath a building on Obe Street, Lagos Island. Photo Credit: Emmanuel Agbo/PREMIUM TIMES
Beyond residential neighbourhoods
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.”
Wastewater flowing through a public drain beside shops at Tinubu Square, Lagos Island. Photo Credit: Emmanuel Agbo/PREMIUM TIMES
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.
An open drainage channel carrying wastewater and sewage on Alli Street, Lagos Island. Photo Credit: Emmanuel Agbo/PREMIUM TIMES
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.”
Buildings over drains
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.
Residents alleged that some landlords had extended their buildings over existing drainage alignments and were using the concealed sections to channel wastewater and sewage from their properties.
PREMIUM TIMES could not independently determine what was being discharged into the sections concealed beneath the buildings. However, dark, foul-smelling wastewater was observed emerging from some drains further downstream.
On 17 June, this newspaper contacted the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) through the Freedom of Information (FOI) to seek clarification on the approval and regulation of building structures that allow residents to channel toilet pipes directly into public drainage systems. The newspaper also sought the agency’s response to the widespread practice of constructing buildings and shops on drainage channels.
Despite repeated visits to the agency’s office in an attempt to obtain answers, LASBCA did not respond to the enquiries.
For residents, however, the consequences are visible on the streets. Wastewater continues to flow through open drains around homes and businesses, even where its precise source is hidden beneath concrete.
What the law says
The practices documented by PREMIUM TIMES are prohibited under Lagos State’s environmental regulations.
The Lagos State Environmental Management and Protection Law, 2017, places responsibilities on property owners and occupiers to maintain their premises and prohibits activities that could obstruct drainage infrastructure or pollute the environment.
Under Section 112 of the law, owners and occupiers are required to keep their premises clean, including surrounding gutters and drains.
Section 118(1)(a) prohibits the construction of structures on drainage alignments, sewers, footpaths and required road setbacks.
The provision is relevant to PREMIUM TIMES’ findings on parts of Lagos Island, where sections of drains disappeared beneath buildings before re-emerging further down the streets.
The law also addresses the discharge of untreated waste.
Section 185 provides that a person must not discharge untreated waste or chemical substances into the environment except in accordance with applicable regulations or federal law.
For certain establishments, including housing estates, hotels and commercial facilities, Section 188(1) prohibits the discharge of trade and industrial effluent into public drains or the natural environment without a permit from the relevant agency.
Section 115(4) also prohibits the indiscriminate dumping of domestic, industrial or commercial waste along roads, channels and other specified locations.
Residents and pedestrians navigating a street beside an open drainage channel on Adeniji Adele, Lagos Island. Photo Credit: Emmanuel Agbo/PREMIUM TIMES
Beyond the environmental law, Lagos building regulations require developers to provide appropriate systems for disposing of wastewater from buildings. These include public or private sewers, septic tanks with appropriate secondary treatment, wastewater treatment systems or cesspools.
Yet PREMIUM TIMES observed pipes from residential and commercial buildings discharging wastewater directly into public drains in several parts of Lagos Island.
An open drainage channel carrying wastewater beside commercial buildings at Tinubu Square, Lagos Island. Photo Credit: Emmanuel Agbo/PREMIUM TIMES
Enforcement has not stopped the practice
The state has previously taken action against properties accused of violating wastewater and environmental regulations.
The Lagos State Wastewater Management Office (LSWMO) sealed a property in Okota after discovering that raw sewage from its septic tank was being discharged into a public drainage system.
Three months later, enforcement officers shut a residential property on Apongbon Street on Lagos Island for allegedly releasing faecal matter into public drains.
In September 2025, LSWMO sealed EMCEL Court Phase I and Well Stock Apartments in Ikota GRA, Eti-Osa, accusing the facilities of discharging untreated wastewater into public drains and the surrounding environment.
The agency has carried out similar enforcement in other parts of Lagos. In August 2025, it sealed residential properties in Abule Egba and Lekki, Eti-Osa, after accusing occupants of deliberately pumping raw sewage into public drains.
In April, while announcing the return of monthly environmental sanitation, the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, reminded residents to keep drainage channels around their properties clean and dispose of waste properly, warning that violators would be sanctioned.
Despite these enforcement actions and warnings, PREMIUM TIMES found wastewater still flowing through public drains in several communities on Lagos Island.
Billions spent on drainage infrastructure
The conditions documented by PREMIUM TIMES are occurring despite substantial public investment in Lagos’ drainage infrastructure.
According to the Lagos State government’s 2024 Citizens’ Accountability Report, the Office of Drainage Services and Water Resources spent about N45.53 billion during the year, representing 99 per cent of its total budget of N46.06 billion.
The expenditure covered several drainage-related projects, including construction, dredging and rehabilitation.
The state reported spending N13.65 billion on drainage construction and dredging across Lagos and N11.48 billion on the rehabilitation of drainage systems across local government areas. Another N9.36 billion was recorded for dredging and construction, while N2.30 billion went towards outstanding liabilities on drainage construction.
These expenditures are primarily related to drainage and flood management and should not be confused with spending on sewage or wastewater treatment, which is handled separately by the Lagos State Wastewater Management Office.
They are nevertheless relevant to another finding of this investigation: public drains in some of the communities visited were being used for purposes for which they were not designed, while sections of drainage channels had also been built over or otherwise made difficult to access.
The Lagos State government itself describes maintaining drainage rights-of-way, cleaning drains and dredging canals as important parts of its flood-control efforts.
Yet on parts of Lagos Island visited by PREMIUM TIMES, drains intended to convey stormwater were also carrying household wastewater and refuse.
The state’s budget records show that drainage expenditure is spread across several programmes and budget lines, making it misleading to use a single administrative allocation as the government’s total spending on drainage.
Lagos State government muted
The questions were put to the Lagos State government in writing. Getting answers, however, proved more difficult.