A massive protest erupted in the AIT/Amikanle community of Alagbado, Lagos, as angry residents poured into the streets to oppose a proposed government cemetery within their neighbourhood, warning of spiritual, psychological and safety risks.
The demonstration, which brought activities in the usually quiet area to a halt, saw residents insist that locating a “land of the dead” in a residential zone would turn their community into what they described as a house of horror.
Most of the protesters were women and youths, many of whom said the presence of fresh graves would pose spiritual dangers, particularly to pregnant women and children. Community members warned that the psychological burden of living next to a burial ground would confine families indoors.
“If this cemetery is built, our pregnant women won’t be able to walk freely anymore. Culturally and spiritually, it is not right for a woman carrying a baby to be walking past fresh corpses every day. We won’t accept it!” a community spokesperson said.
In comments that have since sparked widespread reactions online, some female residents said the proposed cemetery could destabilise their homes, as their husbands fear moving around the area at night.
“Our husbands come home late sometimes, and they have told us they will be scared too,” one resident shouted. “You can’t expect a man to jump off a bus at 10 PM and walk past a graveyard alone. It is not safe, physically or spiritually. We don’t want ghosts as neighbors!”
Parents also raised concerns about the impact on children, saying they would no longer feel comfortable sending them on errands near a burial site.
“How can I send my 10-year-old to buy something when he has to pass a place where they are burying dead bodies? It will traumatize our children,” another protester said.
The residents are now appealing to the Lagos State Government to relocate the cemetery to a non-residential area, insisting that the AIT/Amikanle community needs development projects such as schools and hospitals — not a cemetery.
