Nigeria, June 25 -- It began, as it often does in Nigeria, not with a court notice, not with a legal warning, not with the observance of due process-but with the roar of excavators and the terrified voice of a citizen whose only crime was owning a property in a country where justice has become a whispered myth. On a quiet morning in Lagos, a piece of private property-legally acquired and occupied for over 15 years-was brought to the ground by faceless men and voiceless machines. No names. No papers. No permits. Just sheer audacity and coordinated lawlessness.

That building, which stood as a testament to enterprise, hard work, and lawful acquisition, was not just bricks and mortar. It represented the Nigerian dream-the belief that against...