THE Ibeju – Lekki Local Government Area (LGA) of Lagos State, where the government plans to demolish 80 per cent of buildings, said it lost all its building records to ENDSARS protests in 2020.
The LGA disclosed this to The ICIR through its public affairs officer, Maryam Hamsat.
The ICIR reporter asked the official to respond to questions regarding the Lagos State government’s planned demolition of buildings in the LGA.
In her response, Hamsat told The ICIR that the LGA had lost the records of buildings in Ibeju-Lekki.
She said all the documents at the council were destroyed during the End-SARS protests.
“I have tried to do what you requested, but unfortunately, we don’t have the data because of the End-SARS saga. We don’t have any of such documents now; the council was burnt down then, and we are now trying to compile new documents,” Hamsat said.
When contacted, the Council Chairman, Abdullahi Olowa, did not pick up his calls and had yet to respond to the WhatsApp message sent to him when the reporter filed the report.
The ICIR reports that during the oversight function of the Lagos State House of Assembly on Local Government and Community Affairs at the local government in March 2021, the management of the Ibeju-Lekki claimed it lost N770 million to the destruction of its council area following the End-SARS protest.
“We have lost almost N770 million to the End SARS aftermath destruction. Our building was totally burnt down. After looting everything we had in the office, they now set fire on it,” the Vice-Chairman, Odofin Abduljelili, was quoted to have said.
Due to a lack of government approval, the Lagos State government has marked about 80 per cent of the buildings in the Ibeju—Lekki axis for demolition.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development (PPUD), Oluyinka Olumide, disclosed this on Monday, May 6.
Olumide told journalists that 80 per cent of buildings in the LGA did not have government approval.
The commissioner said the buildings involved had been marked for demolition, pointing out that the Ibeju-Lekki corridor was zoned as agricultural land.
According to him, the first step in the procedure is to get the planning information on what the area is zoned out for.
He said that developers or builders could then secure a fence permit, a layout permit and other building regulation requirements.
“Just last week, Thursday and Friday, the team and I were on the Ibeju Lekki and Epe axis, and you would agree with me that anybody passing through that corridor would see a lot of estates marked. We went there, and I can tell you that from what we saw, over 80 per cent of them do not have approval,” Olumide said.
While he revealed the percentage of buildings without approvals, the commissioner did not disclose the number of buildings affected or the total number of buildings in the Ibeju-Lekki corridor.
The Lagos State government’s revelation that 80 per cent of buildings in Ibeju-Lekki had no approval has raised concerns about the government’s effective monitoring of various estates and constructions despite the state’s large number of ministries and agencies saddled with the responsibilities.
It also raised concerns about government officials’ negligence in monitoring and enforcing building regulations in the state.
Ibeju-Lekki LGA is home to the Lekki Free Trade Zone, the Dangote refinery, and a beacon for real estate investors seeking promising opportunities.
In October 2020, young Nigerians organised large-scale demonstrations against police brutality in Nigeria.
The campaign tagged #ENDSARS demanded the dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), an infamous Nigerian Police squad with a history of mistreating Nigerian residents.
The protest lasted for weeks and almost grounded affairs in every sector of the country.
A reporter with the ICIR
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