Lagos govt demolishes 17 houses over encroachment

No less than 17 houses person been demolished by the Lagos State Government for encroaching connected the Right of Way (RoW) of the Ikota River alignment.

The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, led a monitoring squad alongside journalists to the tract connected Saturday.

Wahab urged residents to desist from actions that destruct the ecosystem, stressing that quality would ever retaliate against quality negligence and unlawful reclamation.

He said the ministry had received complaints months agone astir amerciable reclamation efforts aimed astatine narrowing the river’s RoW.

“We stopped them then, but we were alerted again precocious that the encroachment had resumed aggressively, with attempts to merchantability to unsuspecting buyers,” helium said.

According to him, the ministry has present taken steadfast enactment to halt the encroachment and region each amerciable structures wrong the area.

He vowed that those down the enactment would beryllium identified and prosecuted successful accordance with the law.

On flooding, Wahab said it was intolerable to wholly forestall flooding successful a coastal authorities similar Lagos, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, lagoons, and rivers.

“What we tin bash is mitigate its interaction done resilient infrastructure, which Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has continued to supply and maintain,” helium said.

He noted that successful spite of the government’s regular attraction of drainage systems, immoderate individuals continued to obstruct waterways for idiosyncratic gain.

Wahab cited spot No. 156 arsenic an example, saying it blocked the coastal roadworthy alignment, thereby obstructing the earthy travel of water.

He said the spot would beryllium cleared to guarantee the Ikota transmission discharges freely into the Lagos Lagoon.

The commissioner emphasised that demolition was not ever the state’s archetypal option, arsenic different corrective measures were sometimes explored.

“Sometimes, we inquire developers to nutrient applicable designs for stormwater discharge, but they indispensable carnivore the cost, not taxpayers,” helium added.

He described it arsenic irresponsible for the authorities to hole problems created by backstage individuals who nett from violating biology regulations.

During an inspection circuit of the Lekki-Epe corridor, Wahab decried the monolithic encroachment connected wetlands meant to clasp excess h2o during rainfall.

He said drone surveillance revealed extended harm to the wetland corridor, wherever coconut trees initially planted had been destroyed.

According to him, notices were issued to violators connected September 26, up of upcoming transport infrastructure works connected the aforesaid route.

He added that the inspection aimed to synchronise biology preservation with the Ministry of Transport’s Green Line Rail project.

Commissioner for Transport, Mr Oluwaseun Osiyemi, said the Green Line task would commence successful December, pursuing stakeholder consultations and feasibility studies.

He said immoderate car dealers fixed impermanent support to usage powerfulness enactment spaces had violated presumption by erecting imperishable structures connected wetlands.

“As a state, we indispensable enforce compliance and support the situation portion accommodating transport development,” Osiyemi said.

He stated that the obstruction project, spanning from Marina to Epe, would past astir 3 years and run arsenic an integrated transport solution.

Other locations visited included Chevron Gate disconnected Orchid Road, Partibon Homes, Oral Extension Phase 2, and Park View successful Ikoyi. (NAN)

The station Lagos govt demolishes 17 houses implicit encroachment appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.