Nigeria coastal erosion threatens Ayetoro fishing town

Coastal erosion is threatening Ayetoro, a fishing community in southern Nigeria, where residents say homes, schools and health services are being pushed back as the Atlantic Ocean gains ground.

Ayetoro, home to around 10,000 people, was founded in 1947 by communist-inspired Christians seeking to create a society based on communal sharing of assets. The community is now one of Nigeria's most visible examples of coastal erosion.

Families whose homes are destroyed rebuild farther inland, only for the water to reach them again. Coastal erosion in Ayetoro has increased since the early 2000s, and similar damage is affecting 19 other communities in Ilaje district.

A study by spatial planning specialist Barnabas Ogirima James found that Ayetoro's coastline receded by an average of 15 metres a year between 1987 and 2022. A 2024 estimate in the journal Scientific Reports put the current rate of sea-level rise along west Africa's Gulf of Guinea at about 3.9 millimetres a year, about 10.5 percent higher than the global average.

Ayetoro's traditional king, Oluwambe Ojagbohunmi, said his palace once had 100 rooms and now has only about a dozen. He said a storm in April left palace occupants trapped indoors for a week after sea levels rose.

Thompson Akingboye, a fisherman and assistant to the king, said he lost his father's house in 2019 and saved only his university degree certificate. He said some families have moved more than three times.

Researcher Oluwasegun Babatunde Esan of the University of Lagos said rapid development on floodplains, swamps and coastal areas can worsen erosion along Nigeria's 850-kilometre coastline. He called for stricter regulation and more natural barriers such as mangroves and coconut palms.

Ayetoro's only health centre has been lost to the waves. Healthcare worker Omomiye Oluwaseun said residents face high blood pressure and water-borne diseases such as typhoid and diarrhoea because brackish water inundates the community and has contaminated the water supply.

Teacher Sunday Akinjoye said schools have been relocated several times, disrupting students and affecting their concentration.