Lagos Justifies Demolition Of Buildings In Ajao Estate

Lagos State government has defended the ongoing demolition of some buildings in Ajao Estate area of the state, saying the affected structures posed a severe threat to Lagosians and the International Airport.

The general manager of Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA),  Gbolahan Oki, who gave reasons for the demolition on yesterday, said 12 buildings were marked in the area for demolition for non-compliance with the state’s law regulating the construction of buildings in the state.

Oki said the affected buildings were erected by the owners along pipelines and cited in close proximity to Murtala Mohammed International Airport without obtaining construction approvals from the federal government through Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the state government.

Aside from not obtaining any approval, the affected structures were said to have been built by their owners on pipelines channelled to transport aviation fuel to the airport in Ikeja.

The state government also clarified that the buildings which were pulled down on I.K. Peter Street, Ajao Estate, were discovered to have been constructed by their owners encroaching on airport restricted areas.

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Oki, who briefed newsmen with the general manager, Business Development, FAAN, Hycienth Ngwu, stressed that the buildings lacked required approvals and were cited around airport restricted areas while some were on aviation fuel pipelines.

According to him, if the situation was not urgently tackled, the disaster that would occur from it, could claim dozens of lives and property in the state, adding that the builders also lacked required documents as approvals for construction in that area.

While maintaining that the buildings were illegally constructed out of clear disregard to the requirements of extant laws, he said the buildings had no planning permit and were built around the pipelines.

He said, “Nobody in his right thinking mind will go and buy a plot on a pipeline and build on the pipeline,” adding that due consultations and communications have been made with enough time of over eight years, 2016, given to the occupants of the affected buildings to evacuate the structures.

He added that the buildings were “national risk” to the airport being “extremely close”, stressing that “no life of a Nigerian is worth being lost to the dangers that the citing of the buildings pose.”

Also,  Ngwu said, “The agency is happy that the Lagos State government is stepping into the issue after several warnings in an attempt to stop the construction of buildings were not heeded to by those it called “encroachers, who stole from the land of the airport.”

He said the authorities of the airport began to serve notice encroachment on its land in 2016 on occupiers for defying the standard rule that no building must be cited close to the perimeter fence of the airport

“The agency is happy that Lagos State government is stepping into the issue after several warnings in an attempt to stop the constructions of buildings were not yielded to by those it called “encroachers, who stole from the land of the Airport.”