Photos of Nigerian sand dredgers reshaping Lagos' coastline, one bucket at a time

Audio By Carbonatix

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Men in Nigeria lower buckets into the murky water of the Lagos Lagoon and bring up loads of sand, one by one. Going underwater for about 15 seconds at a time, dredgers haul up bucketloads bound for construction sites, reshaping the coastline of Africa’s largest city.

Filling a boat takes about three hours, which is worth about 12,000 naira ($8) to a middleman who supplies larger buyers.

Dredgers and local traders say the price of sand, crucial for making concrete, has risen steadily.

The changes to the lagoon are unmistakable. What was once an open stretch of water is increasingly broken up by sandy patches, narrowing channels, and reshaping currents that support thousands of fishermen.

—

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.