Lagos State government has served contravention notice on over 200 property owners and occupiers in the Òkun Ajah Waterfront scheme in Eti Osa LGA over encroachment on government land, urging them to come forward with relevant documents or remove the buildings before the expiration of the ultimatum.
The state’s commissioner for waterfront infrastructure development, Hon Yacoob Ekundayo Alebiosu, who gave the order during an inspection of the area at the weekend, said the seven-day ultimatum was issued to all the affected property owners and occupiers in the area encroaching on government land for them to provide relevant documents.
He said they are required to come with relevant documents and approvals that back their occupation of the land, adding that many properties and buildings in the area contravened the law by illegally taking possession of the land not allocated to them by the government.
He said four contravention notices had earlier been served on the illegal occupants in the Okun Ajah scheme, he said the government cannot continue to watch and see the state’s commonwealth turned to private investments.
Alebiosu, therefore, urged owners of such buildings to voluntarily remove their encroaching properties before the expiration of the ultimatum.
He also said, if they allow the government to use its funds to enforce the directive, the cost of such operation shall be recovered from the property owners.
The commissioner also said that the ministry has gone through all the processes required in Okun Ajah and that this is the last one. “We have served over 200 houses today alone, based on several contraventions. We’ll return with the Ministry of Physical Planning to take possession.”
Fielding questions from journalists after the exercise, Alebiosu said there are several properties in Okun Ajah without waterfront clearance, saying a lot of encroachments have been identified with people building without approval.
“We’re always guided by the law, we have issued notices, stop work orders have also been served, despite that, they kept at it, continued with their work, and we are left with no option.
“We have been meticulous, we had followed through all the processes before we got to this stage, we are now at the final stage of enforcement, we have been here severally, we even met with resistance from some of them, but the law has to take its course,” he said.
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