Twenty coastal communities in the oil-producing parts of Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State have threatened to boycott the 2027 general elections if the Federal and Ondo State governments fail to urgently intervene to protect them from the devastating ocean surge threatening their existence.
The communities, under the Coalition of Ilaje Ravaged Communities, made the threat after a peaceful protest to the local government headquarters in Igbokoda, demanding immediate shoreline protection and emergency assistance.
They called for the construction of sea walls, groynes and other shoreline protection infrastructure to halt the advancing Atlantic Ocean, which they said had already swallowed large portions of their settlements.
The affected communities are Ayetoro, Awoye, Mese, Gbagira, Jiringho, Ilowo, Ilepete, Idiogba, Oroto, Alagbon, Erunona, Olotu, Yaye, Womitenren, Ogboti, Lepe, Ehinmore, Abetobo, Odun-Oyinbo and Abereke.
The coalition said the situation had become a humanitarian emergency, with hundreds of homes, schools, places of worship, health facilities, fishing grounds, factories and other community infrastructure destroyed by ocean surge and coastal erosion.
Ayetoro, described as the worst-hit community, has reportedly lost about 85 per cent of its territory to the advancing sea. The communities warned that other settlements are now facing a similar fate as the shoreline continues to recede.
Beyond long-term shoreline protection, the protesters demanded immediate humanitarian support, including food, potable water, medicines and temporary shelters for families displaced by flooding and ocean surge.
They also called on the Federal Government to declare the Ilaje coastline a national disaster zone and release emergency funds to address the worsening crisis.
The coalition further demanded that the Ondo State Government sign a memorandum of understanding with the affected communities and publish a 90-day action plan within 30 days of receiving their demands.
“No project, no vote,” the protesters declared, warning political parties and aspirants that the support of coastal communities could no longer be taken for granted.
The coalition stressed that the proposed election boycott was not a rejection of democracy but a demand for accountability from political leaders seeking the votes of communities that, according to them, have endured years of neglect.
The communities also lamented that their contribution to Ondo State’s oil-producing status had not been matched with adequate protection from the environmental consequences of living along the coast.
“You cannot take 75 per cent of our resources and give us zero per cent protection,” they said.
The monarch of Ayetoro, Oba Olorumbe Ojagbohunmi, lamented the scale of the destruction, saying the community had been battling the advancing sea for about two decades despite repeated appeals to government.
“It has been 20 years since the sea has been encroaching. The people of the community have been writing letters and making passionate appeals that we are experiencing serious environmental challenges, that the sea is coming at an alarming rate towards the residential areas of the community,” he said.
Ojagbohunmi said Ayetoro had lost at least 50 buildings annually to ocean surge over the past decade, leaving residents displaced.
“For 10 years now, we have been losing at least 50 buildings every year to the ocean surge. My people have become refugees in their own town,” he said.
He noted that only about seven of the community’s 45 streets remained, while factories, schools and other infrastructure had been lost to the sea.
The monarch also recounted the destruction caused by a recent surge, saying the road leading to his palace and its staircase were destroyed in April, leaving him and his family stranded for about a week.
He blamed the worsening situation on what he described as government failure, including the non-execution of two multibillion-naira shoreline protection contracts reportedly awarded by the Federal Government.
Associate Director of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA, Ogunlade Olamide, which provided advocacy support to the communities, called for urgent government action in response to the crisis.
“Within the context of climate justice, environmental accountability and historical liabilities, governments at the federal, state and local levels must act now to protect the Ilaje people, their homes, livelihoods and heritage,” Ogunlade said.
He said communities that had borne the environmental and social costs associated with resource extraction should not continue to face government silence and inaction, describing their demands as calls for justice, fairness, accountability and reparation.
The coalition’s General Coordinator, Comrade Akingboye Thompson, described the situation as an existential threat rather than a routine environmental challenge.
“Ilaje coastal communities are facing an existential threat. The Atlantic Ocean is swallowing our land from the sea, and poor drainage is drowning our headquarters from within,” he said.
Thompson described affected residents as “climate refugees in their own country”, noting that many fishermen had lost access to traditional fishing grounds while thousands of displaced families were struggling to find safe places to live.
The coalition also raised concerns over flooding in Igbokoda, the headquarters of Ilaje Local Government Area, attributing the recurring problem partly to inadequate drainage.
It called for the immediate construction of a modern drainage network in Igbokoda, arguing that the local government headquarters should not remain vulnerable to annual flooding.
The communities urged the Federal Government, Ondo State Government, Ilaje Local Government Council and relevant agencies to treat the situation as an emergency and commence immediate intervention before more communities are lost to the advancing ocean.