On September 1, the Lagos State government demolished a few structures housing some small and medium sized businesses on Rumens street in Ikoyi.

Social media was in an uproar, especially because one of the demolished businesses was the much loved casual healthy food chain, Nuli juice.

Cafe where I had breakfast this morning just torn down by Lagos state gov. Owners had no warning. 10min to get out!! pic.twitter.com/LDK7b6PHLo

— Stephanie Hegarty BBC News (@stephhegarty) September 1, 2016

Some pondered on the fairness of the actions taken by the state.

Just read up on the Nuli Juice demolition. Like is it hard for Govt to have empathy. Do the people we elect understand d meaning of service

— Osi (@Osi_Suave) September 1, 2016

Others highlighted the fact that this issue is not new or a one-off.

https://twitter.com/Gidimeister/status/771344413519937536

An internship programme had this to say.

@nulijuice is home for some of our interns. We are appalled by the destruction of their lounge without notice.#whydestroywhatyoushouldbuild?

— SESEWA (@sesewa) September 2, 2016

And someone had this to say about investing in Nigerian property.

https://twitter.com/MakiSpoke/status/771334982547767296

While we are not clear on all the details, some reports on social media stated that the Landlord owed the government permit payments for the structural extensions on his property which housed the businesses that were demolished.

However, speaking to TVC on the show ‘Your View’ yesterday, Steve Ayorinde, the Lagos Commissioner of Information and Strategy stated that the occupants and landlords had been served notifications of illegal structure, a demolition notice as well as a pasted notice on the building in March 2016. He further stressed that the demolitions had nothing to do with permit payments owed to the state.

Regardless of the circumstances, we really hope the business owners are able to come out of this stronger and better.

What do you think about the demolition?