BREAKING: Artists’ Village at National Theatre demolished + pictures

The Artists Village at the National Theatre in Lagos has been demolished, according to a Facebook post by lead dancer, Crown Troupe of Africa, Segun Adefila.

Adefila said the area was torn down by bulldozers on Saturday morning and most of the belongings of artists were either destroyed or stolen. One of the pictures he posted on Facebook also show what appears to be a bullet hole in a car, suggesting that there might have been some resistance from the artists.

“Today, Saturday,23rd of January 2016, while idle youths who have found engagement in crime roam the city almost unchecked, the Artists Village (the only artistically functional part of the National Theatre- a gigantic edifice with no soul) is under invasion.

“Many young artists who have found a creative outlet for their youthful energy shall be violently uprooted from this space. Their properties destroyed, savings stolen and all of them rendered idle. These artists shall soon begin to envy their contemporaries, who have taken to crime by wrecking-havoc on a sleeping society. Shame, a big shame,” he wrote.

NEWSVERGE gathered that the Village was demolished days after the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, visited the site which was an eye-saw.

The Minister according to sources was not happy at the sight of the location which before now has raised questions whether Federal Government should sell the National Theatre property.

The pictures