A distraught entrepreneur has declared his intention to abandon Nigeria permanently and return to the United Kingdom after watching bulldozers demolish his hospitality business without any prior warning or official notice.
The businessman, identified only as Charles, said he established the venture just one year and three months ago. The demolition has thrown 84 direct employees out of work, with hundreds more employed in neighbouring businesses also left jobless.
No Prior Notice
Speaking emotionally moments after the destruction, Charles said he had begun dismantling parts of the property himself after hearing rumours that the land might be reclaimed—but insisted that no government agency formally notified him of any impending demolition.
“As I’m talking to you now, I’m actually thinking of counting my losses, packing my load, and going back and tearing the Nigerian passport. I have friends in the UK that have done it. I’m thinking of that as I speak,” he said.
He recounted how the events unfolded: “I heard rumours about a week ago that they were coming to claim this land from nowhere. Nobody gave me any notification. Nobody came to me with any form of notice.”
Charles said he decided on Sunday to shut down and begin evacuating equipment. On Monday, he removed some items. On Tuesday morning, he had welders, carpenters, and masons working to dismantle structures. But around noon, bulldozers arrived.
“They saw people on the roof taking out roofing sheets, removing wood, welders working. They told them to come down and bulldozed the whole place to the ground,” he said.
A Dream Built on Borrowed Funds
The distraught businessman revealed that he returned to Nigeria because successive governments had encouraged Nigerians in the diaspora to invest at home. Unlike many contractors who rely on government contracts, he funded his venture entirely through overseas loans.
“Nobody gave me notice. I took a loan from the UK—£75,000—to come and invest in Nigeria. You people say we should come back from the diaspora to invest in Nigeria. I’ve never done one government contract. I don’t know anybody in government. I’m not even interested. I came with money from the UK to invest here. So I have to deal with that loan now,” he said.
84 Families Affected
Charles lamented that the demolition has left dozens of workers stranded and uncertain about their future. “Eighty-four staff. Eighty-four. That’s what I was feeding here. I built this place a year and three months ago exactly. That’s when I built this place. It’s painful. I stood there and I watched it go. Nobody cares,” he said.
A Warning to Would-Be Investors
Questioning the government’s repeated promises of attracting foreign and diaspora investment, Charles said the demolition sends the opposite message.
“And you’re telling me now to convince anybody to invest in this country? Look at 84 people. What are they going to do? I have a choice. I will go back, count my losses, and find a way of sorting out the loan I took,” he said.
He added that the impact extends beyond his own establishment. Several neighbouring businesses—including Barbados, Amalashita, RM’s Dream, Hunters, and Aris—were also affected, throwing hundreds of additional workers into unemployment.
“Look at 84 families just from Stopover. There’s a place next to me called Barbados. There’s Amalashita. There’s RM’s Dream. There was Hunters. There was Aris. These are all people that employed workers,” he said.
