Victoria Island (Nigeria)

Victoria Island (VI) is an affluent area that encompasses a former island of the same name that sits between Lagos Island and the Lekki Peninsula in the Lagos Lagoon. It is the main business and financial centre of Lagos in Lagos State, Nigeria. Victoria Island is one of the most exclusive and expensive areas to reside in Lagos. The town and island lie within the boundaries of the Eti-Osa Local Government Area (LGA).

A large part of the Island was originally part of jurisdiction of the Oniru chieftaincy family of Lagos with tenants inhabiting the land. In 1948, the Lagos Executive Development Board paid 250,000 pounds as compensation for the land acquired from the Oniru family and an additional 150,000 pounds as compensation for the inhabitants and shrines destroyed. The inhabitants were later resettled at Maroko village. Victoria Island was originally surrounded entirely by water. It was bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the south, the mouth of the Lagos Lagoon on the West, the Five Cowrie Creek to the north North, and swamps on the East. The colonial government began the process of filling in the eastern swamps to reduce mosquito breeding areas. This created a land bridge between Victoria Island and Lekki Peninsula ending its existence as a true island.

After independence, successive state governments expanded this development, culminating in the construction of a highway connecting Victoria Island to Epe. This activity, along with the rapid commercialization of Victoria Island, served to stimulate residential development along the Lekki-Epe corridor, starting with Lekki Phase 1. The area of the land bridge, composed of the former swampland, became a large slum called Maroko Town which housed many of the new migrants to Lagos State. Residents of the Island complained about this problem, leading the military Governor of the State, Raji Rasaki, to forcibly remove the residents on July 14, 1990, resulting in numerous injuries. Governor Rasaki and his armed security forces caused the eviction of as many as 300,000 residents, some of whom had legal title to their property.

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