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Africa’s megacity of Lagos reshapes its coast by dredging and puts environment at risk
Over five years, dredging has removed spawning grounds and increased sand prices to $202 per truckload, threatening fishing jobs and accelerating coastal land reclamation.
- On Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, workers in Ibeshe extracted sharp sand from the Lagos Lagoon, visibly reshaping the coastline that buffers about 17 million people in Lagos, Nigeria.
- Rising construction and real-estate demand has prompted registered dredging firms and informal operators to increase extraction across Lagos State in recent years.
- Researchers documented unstable seabeds and unsafe turbidity levels near dredging sites, with dredging erasing shallow spawning grounds and sucking fish through pipes, harming fish and local fisheries along the Ajah–Addo–Badore corridor.
- Faced with shrinking catches, local fishermen like Joshua Monday have stopped fishing or parked boats for mechanic work, with fuel costs more than 150,000 naira per trip.
- Scientists warn dredging reduces the lagoon's flood-buffer role, increasing risks for Lagos's population, while community leaders say enforcement is inconsistent and informal dredgers pay Marine Police and NIWA to resume work.
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20 Articles
20 Articles
Africa's megacity of Lagos reshapes its coast by dredging, putting environment at risk
Beneath an eight-lane expressway, Nigerian men stand waist-deep in the Lagos Lagoon, lowering buckets into murky water. Each load brings up sand, reshaping the coastline of Africa’s largest city and driving away fish and livelihoods for some of its poorest people.
·Canada
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Associated Press News+16 Reposted by 16 other sources
Africa's megacity of Lagos reshapes its coast by dredging and puts environment at risk
Sand dredging is reshaping the coastline of Africa’s largest city, Lagos, and driving away fish and livelihoods for some of Nigeria's poorest people.
·United States
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Under an eight-lane highway, Nigerian men are submerged to their waists in the Lagos lagoon, descending buckets into the cloudy water. Each load brings sand, reshaping the coast of Africa's largest city and driving away fish and the livelihoods of many poor people.
Coverage Details
Total News Sources20
Leaning Left11Leaning Right1Center6Last UpdatedBias Distribution61% Left
Bias Distribution
- 61% of the sources lean Left
61% Left
L 61%
C 33%
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