Coastal Road: Lagos Residents Kick Against Extension Of Right-of-way

Property owners and residents of the Okun-Ajah community have protested against what they described as a deviation from the established Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road Right of Way.

The affected property owners and residents appealed to the President Bola Tinubu, the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo Olu and the Lagos State House of Assembly to investigate the recent marking of buildings and other places for demolition by officials of the Lagos State government.

The residents, during a peaceful protest to the Lagos State House of Assembly and other places, accused officials of the Lagos State Physical and Urban Planning Agency of extending the right-of-way of the proposed road beyond the established delineation.

The demonstrators stressed that the coastal road project, initiated in 2006, had its right-of-way distinctly defined and gazetted and that the community had respected the coastal road alignment, ensuring no development encroached upon the coastal road boundary.

The protesters emphasized that those who flouted the right-of-way and built on it, creating obstructions, should face consequences to act as a deterrent to others.

Many of the affected property owners proactively secured a certificate of occupancy and a survey plan, which were reportedly signed by the then Governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu and the then surveyor-general of Lagos State.

One of the protesters who simply identified himself as Fasisi said, “To our surprise, we discovered that the officials from the Lagos State Physical Planning and Urban Development Agency were marking properties for demolition, even those outside the gazetted coastal road alignment.

“The markings followed the original alignment from Ahmadu Bello Way but began to deviate upon reaching the Okun-Ajah community.

“The purpose of the protest is to bring to the government’s attention the unexpected and illegitimate deviation from the original gazetted right-of-way for the coastal road.”