Epunchng - Most read newspaper in Nigeria 3rd October 2016 | Page 4
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MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016
Afeez Hanafi
R
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Residents decry plan to demolish
buildings, shops
esidents o f t h e
Abule Egba area of
Lagos State have
lamented government’s plan
to demolish more buildings
in the community over the
ongoing bridge construction
in the area.
They said the Ministry for
Physical Planning and Urban
Development had earlier
marked the frontage of some
buildings by the roadsides
for demolition but recently
extended the marking by
about 30 metres.
Dwellers and shop owners,
who spoke with PUNCH
Metro on Sunday, said the
second marking indicated
that many of them would
be displaced and rendered
jobless.
They urged the government
to rescind the planned
demolition and stuck to the
former 64-metre extension
reportedly contained in the
layout of the construction.
The Secretary, Abule Egba
Landlords’ Association,
Mr. Olawole Olanrewaju,
said the Commissioner for
Physical Planning and Urban
Development, Mr. Wasiu
Anifowoshe, had met with
residents but did not discuss
the new extension at the
meeting.
He said, “The Lagos State
Government has decided
to demolish our property.
Sixty four metres was initially
measured on both sides of the
road. On September 22 – two
days after the commissioner
held a meeting with us – it
was extended to 91.44 metres.
“The commissioner only
told us at the meeting that the
bridge, the two service lanes
and the drainage channel,
have been constructed but
only remains the walkway
and streetlight. All these
constructions conformed to
the initial 64-metre marking.
“We are pleading with the
state and federal governments
• One of the affected buildings
to have mercy on us. If the
demolition is carried out up
to the second marking, it will
render about 1,000 people
jobless; parents and their
children will be homeless.”
A woman, Alhaja Fausat
Atobajaiye, said her 90-yearold mother, Suebatu,
collapsed when she learnt
that their residence would be
demolished.
“We rushed her to a hospital
in Ijoko (Ogun State). The
marking has caused a lot
of tension. Most of these
landlords are elderly persons,
who can no longer work to
acquire another property,”
she added.
A 55-year-old widow and
resident of Santos Avenue,
Mrs. Grace Santos, said,
“According to the present
marking, half of my building
will be affected. My shop
at 38 2 L agos - A be okuta
Expressway is also affected.
I have five children and all of
them are still in school.”
Another shop owner,
Alhaja Alimat Kosoko, said
the demolition, if carried
out, would compound the
hardship caused by the
present economic situation.
She said, “We know that
the infrastructure is meant
to serve us but a major
demolition like this should
Photo: Afeez Hanafi
not be sudden. There should
be negotiation. We are
already in pain because of the
present economic situation;
they should not compound
it. Where will we start from?”
An estate agent and
community leader, Alhaji
Abagbaje Bolarinwa, whose
firm was also marked, said
more than 50 houses and
about 1,500 shops would be
affected by the demolition.
Seventy-two-year-old
Alhaji Abdulsalam Amsat,
said his two houses, four
shops and three burial
grounds within one of the
houses, were affected.
The physical planning
commissioner, Anifowoshe,
in response to a text message
sent to his phone, said, “Talk
to officials of the ministry of
works. We are following their
drawings, thanks.”
In a notice served
on one of the property
owners and obtained by
ou r corre spon de n t, th e
ministry of works stated
that the marked structures
encroached on the “right of
way.”
The notice, dated
September 22, 2016, and
signed by one F.A. Danboyi
on behalf of the ministry’s
permanent secretary, read
in part, “Following the
acquisition and official gazette
of the 91.44 metre right of
way of the Lagos-Abeokuta
Expressway (Public La