LASG ISSUES SEVEN-DAY CONTRAVENTION NOTICE TO LEKKI ILLEGAL BUILDING OWNERS
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Tokunbo Wahab, the Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, has served a seven-day notice of violation to the owners of properties located along the Ikota River on Orchid Road, Agungi, Ajiran, Conservation Road, and Osapa.
This was revealed on Monday in Lagos through an X post from Kunle Adesina, the Director of Public Affairs for the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources.
Following an inspection tour of the Ikota River area, Adesina said Wahab made the announcement with Olakunle Rotimi-Akodu, the governor’s special adviser on the environment.
He continued by saying that the purpose of the inspection tour was to find out how compliant property owners were with the allowed seven-metre buffer on both sides of the canal for buildings and fences.
In the meantime, in order to prevent property demolition, the commissioner asked the locals to abide by the State Drainage Master Plan.
He emphasised that the state’s choice to enforce the law and recover drainage setbacks after the notices given expired could not be reversed.
He mentioned that the Nigerian Conservation Foundation had already submitted a petition expressing their displeasure with many distortions, claiming that numerous distortions had occurred on their routes.
He pointed out that the distortion had an impact on the animals’ natural habitat in the foundation as well as on Orchid Road, where the drainage channel intended to collect runoff from the homes and channel it into the lagoon had sustained significant damage.
He said that the setback alignment was reviewed from the original seven metres to six metres following a discussion with property owners to lessen the number of affected structures because the state government has been humanitarian in its approach to reclaiming the drainage right of way.
“We cannot keep lampooning the government for flooding when developers, builders & residents are the main cause of flooding.
“We shall continue to enforce because that is why laws are made. Without law and order, there cannot be development, enough of this bad behaviour,” Wahab said.
Additionally, the commissioner and his crew went to Oral Estate II along System 156 Igbo Efon, where they discovered that illegal buildings without drainage approvals had completely obstructed the Primary Channel.
The commissioner also went to Agungi, Ajiran, and Osapa, where notifications had previously been served. He said that after assessing the degree of encroachment and the setbacks of primary channel and secondary collectors in the regions, judgements will be made in the end.
He clarified that the commissioner had seen that although homeowners and property owners along the corridor have shrunk the size, the System 156 Ikota River channel setback was originally 46 metres.
Wahab also went to Chevron Drive, where he gave the Gravitas firm, the proprietors of Grace Ville Island and Pocket Island, a halt work order for sand-filling a portion of the Ikota River, so shrinking the lagoon from the original 250 metres that were meant to allow water to flow freely.
“The lagoon is a natural path, people have started reclamation to cover up the path and narrow it; you cannot narrow the path of water, if you do, water will naturally create another path and this is dangerous for everyone,” Wahab said.
According to Adesina, Wahab oversaw the demolition of shanties on Thompson Avenue earlier in the day in response to complaints from locals that strange faces and ladies with easy virtues were frequently lining the streets at night, posing a security risk to the entire state and the Ikoyi neighbourhood in particular.
“At 6 a.m. this morning, we came in and what we saw was unimaginable and we had to pull down these illegal structures, evacuate, make some arrests and charge them to court; by tomorrow we will have full possession of the land,” he said.
He urged all squatters to relocate outrightly as the state is determined to rid the state of shanties and all environmental infractions that dot the landscape.
He added, “We will not allow individuals who have no business in the state to become environmental nuisance and security risk.”
According to him, the Special Advisor on Environment mentioned that Lagos has managed to survive due to a number of government initiatives, despite its unique characteristics as a coastal state with low-lying topography, a high population density, and other factors.
He clarified that in order to find a long-term solution to flooding throughout the state, the state administration started a thorough, year-round cleaning and maintenance programme, dredging drainage channels and canals, and building new drainages where and when needed.
In order to make significant gains in environmental sanitation, upkeep, and sustainability, he advocated for the complete participation of communities and governmental authorities at all levels, as well as full public participation in governance.
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