Victor EzejaResidents affected by the demolition exercise carried out at Ajao Estate, Lagos, over the weekend are lamenting their losses.
One of the persons affected by the demolitions, a former Editor of The Guardian on Saturday, Mr Felix Oguejiofor Abugu, said he is now “a distraught land owner” as his family is currently on the street.
The Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) and Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) demolished not less than 13 houses at Runview/Mercy Estate, Isolo, owned by FAAN, few kilometers to the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMA), Ikeja, Lagos.
General Manager, LASBCA, Gbolahan Oki, gave reasons for the demolition.
He said the buildings lacked the necessary approvals and were located in restricted areas around the airport, while some were situated near aviation fuel pipelines.
Oki further said that if the buildings were not removed the situation could result in potential disaster, such as a fire outbreak from the pipeline, which could lead to the loss of lives and properties.
Also, the General Manager, Business Development, FAAN, Mr Hyacinth Ugwu, reportedly said the buildings were constructed on the airport lands acquired by the Federal Government, first in 1944, and further expansion of acquisition in 1972 and 1975 for the international airport.
Mr Ugwu also claimed that the buildings posed security threat to the airport.
“In 2015, we noticed encroachments on Ajao Estate and Shasha axis. There is a rule that no building shall be built close to the perimeter fence. When you go there today, you will see violations; some of them use our perimeter fence as fence,” Ugwu stated.
Speaking with newsmen, Mr Abugu, who is also an ex-Deputy Managing Director of New Telegraph Newspapers and current Publisher of AbeyaNews online platform, said neither the Lagos State government nor it’s agencies has anything to with demolitions, but were only contracted by FAAN to carry out the exercise.
He said: “I am a distraught land owner here and my family is on the street right now, but let’s be clear about one thing: neither the government of Lagos nor its agencies had anything to do with the demolitions per se. The land belongs to FAAN and it simply paid for the services of the concerned agency of Lagos to demolish our houses and, I must add, unjustifiably. So, away with the drivel about Lagos targeting anyone or group!”
Abugu further disclosed that every landlord in the area bought their land from the Adejumolu family but the ownership reverted to FAAN following a court judgment in favour of the aviation agency.
“I bought mine in September 2011. Some bought much earlier. But all of us bought from the Adejumolu family on the basis of a court judgment shown to each and every buyer by the family, indicating that the land belonged to the family,” Mr Abugu stated.
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“However, ownership of the land reverted to FAAN after another court ruling whereupon FAAN took over the Estate and renamed it Runview/Mercy Estate and invited landlords to come for ownership regularisation’. Even those of us from the side that has now been destroyed were invited but were later denied the privilege of regularisations for reasons that were never clear.”
He said the reasons for the demolition of their buildings by FAAN were unjustifiable, adding that while some residents were given the privilege of regularisation of their properties they were not.
“Indeed, I believe that the reasons for this wicked demolition of our property that some bought 15-20 years back and subsequent displacement of our families and disruption of our lives, are as untenable as they are varied.
“The truth is that FAAN had no justifiable reasons to demolish our property. If it regularized houses even across the street, what was so offensive about our side of the street that they had to destroy our houses at a time like this and send our families out on the streets?”
Speaking on how the situation affects his family, Abugu said: “How does one handle this type of situation? This is a property that one put in practically everything one had to be able to develop and live with one’s family and now gbum! and it is gone, just in one hour of merciless destruction! I just don’t know what to do.”
A viral video which captured the moment of the demolition showed a woman who broke down in tears saying she was in the hospital when the destruction started and had lost virtually everything in the house including her vital documents.
When Prime Business Africa visited the area on Tuesday, stern-looking police officers and enforcement team of the LASBCA were sighted stationed at strategic points monitoring the evacuation of the rubbles with buldozers deployed to the site.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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