• Group seeks relief camps for victims of Kosofe demolition
Lagos State government has reiterated its zero tolerance stance on illegal construction of extensions and attachments to shops and buildings.
General Manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Gbolahan Owodunni Oki, disclosed this at a multi-agency enforcement exercise carried out to remove extensions and attachments affixed to shops and plazas within the Lagos Island Central Business District.
He said the extensions constitute a nuisance and hinder rescue operations during emergencies.
He cited the inferno at Mandilas building, where responders like the state fire and rescue services could not access the premises due to the blockage of roads by extensions and attachments.
Oki warned owners of shops and business premises that have extensions and attachments to remove them immediately, saying the exercise was continuous and would be extended to other parts of the state.
He stressed that Lagos State would no longer tolerate the spate of lawlessness in commercial areas, especially on Lagos Island where every available space is converted to shops, with attachments extending into roads.
Oki frowned at the practice of mounting diesel and petrol generators on rooftops, penthouses, and iron staircases of shops and plazas. He ordered that such generators should be brought down immediately.
The multi-agency exercise, comprising LASBCA, Lagos State Neighbourhood Watch, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Central Business Districts and Lagos State Environmental Services, among others, witnessed the removal of attachments and extensions around Nnamdi Azikiwe Street, Dosunmu, Ereko, Eyin Eyo, Martins, Balogun, and adjoining streets.
MEANWHILE, an advocacy group, Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), has expressed optimism that the ongoing demolition of buildings that obstruct the watercourse in the Mende axis, Kosofe Local Council, is a necessity that should bring relief to residents during the rainy season.
The group said the exercise by the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is an inevitable life and property saving operation. It also commended the current leadership of the ministry.
Speaking after a review of the exercise at the weekend, the Coordinator, BCPG Kosofe Cell, Soji Adeniji, and the Secretary, Fatai Balogun, noted that perennial flooding in the low-lying Kosofe area of Lagos has been a major source of concern to construction professionals living or working in that axis. He said many of them had sought environmental improvement over the years.
The guild said encroachment into the established right of way along Odo – Iyalaro River, technically termed System One Channel, has been identified as one of the prominent causes of flooding experienced in the area.
BCPG said:”The river channel that runs from Mende to Medina, Soluyi, and down to the Ogudu-Oworonshoki end, where it discharges water into the Lagoon, has caused recurring nightmares in the psyche of residents due to attacks from the overflowing rivern, which is protesting the reduction in its natural course by buildings.
“As a professional organisation that understands the cost of building construction, the value of an existing building, and the cost implications of building deconstruction or demolition, the importance of preventive measures cannot be overemphasised.”
To ameliorate the suffering of innocent occupants of buildings earmarked for demolition, BCPG said the government should give sufficient time of notice, ensure that direct occupants, rather than landlords only, are informed. It adding that temporary accommodation or relief camps should be provided by the government.
