Lagos Bans Magodo Land Owners From Illegal Sand Excavation

Lagos State government has banned Magodo land owners, the Onikosi family, from excavating sands across the estate for sale.

It was gathered that the family allegedly embarked on indiscriminate mining of wetlands thereby putting residents and their property under threat.

The state government warned that if the family or any of their representatives embarked on sand excavation within the estate’s wetlands, they would be sanctioned under the laws of the state.

The commissioner for physical planning and urban development, Dr. Idris Salako, who revealed the government’s decision, described the family’s actions as unwarranted and provocative.

He said the move by the Onikosi family was contrary to the civic gesture of the state government, which has displayed absolute trust in the rule of law in the Magodo land saga.

Salako who inspected the damages done to residents’ houses within the estate, noted that the family’s actions have affected the foundation of some buildings within Magodo estate maintained that the activities of Onikosi family were truncating the government’s plans to create Magodo Scheme III and resettle the land owners as directed by the Supreme Court.

He said “we were busy making efforts to resettle the Onikosi family in Magodo Scheme III, being created in between Scheme I and II and Omole Estate, the family decided to stoop so low by taking the law into their hands and traumatizing innocent citizens with the unlawful act.

“It is unimaginable that any family in Lagos State, noted for her unrivaled sense of accommodation and conviviality, will go to this length to inflict pain on others, despite reassurances by the government,” he said.

Salako who also visited Bolaji Omotoso, a resident of Magodo Scheme II, to see the extent of damage to his property, occasioned by the excavation by Onikosi, emphasized with the resident and advised him to evacuate the building while proper engineering tests would be carried out to ascertain the level of damage.

The commissioner in a statement issued by deputy director, public affairs for the ministry, Mukaila Sanusi, said it was no longer safe to continue occupying the building as it could cave in with any serious rain.