Why We Demolished 13 Building At Ajao Estate —Lagos Government Opens Up

The Lagos State Government has revealed that the demolished buildings in the Ajao Estate area of the state posed severe threats to Lagosians.

The state government, in a video being circulated by Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), disclosed that 12 buildings were marked in the area for demolition for non compliance with the law.

LASBCA said the affected buildings were erected by their owners without obtaining construction approvals from the Federal Government, through the 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 Murtala Muhammed Airport in Ikeja.

Also, the buildings that were pulled down on I.K. Peter Street, Ajao Estate, were discovered to have been constructed by their owners, encroaching on airport restricted areas.

The General Manager, LASBCA, Gbolahan Oki, explained several reasons for the demolition while briefing newsmen with the General Manager, Business Development, FAAN, Hycienth Ngwu.

Oki stressed that the buildings lacked required approvals and were cited around airport restricted areas, while some were cited on aviation fuel pipelines. He described the situation as a disaster, which, when it happens, could claim dozens of lives and property in the state. He said the builders also lacked required documents as approvals for construction in that area.

The LABSCA boss stressed that the buildings were illegally constructed out of clear disregard to the requirements of extant laws. Mentioning that the buildings had no planning permit and were built around the pipelines, Oki said “nobody in his right thinking mind will go and buy a plot on a pipeline and build on the pipeline.”

He stated that due consultations and communications were made, with enough time of over eight years, since 2016, given to the occupants of the affected buildings to evacuate the structures. He described the buildings on the land as “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 posed.”

Also, Ngwu said “the agency is happy that the Lagos State Government is stepping into the issue after several warnings, to stop the constructions of buildings, were not yielded to by those it called “encroachers, who stole from the land of the airport.”

He lamented that the authorities of the airport began to serve notice of encroachment on its land in 2016 on the occupiers, for defying the standard rule that no building must be cited close to the perimeter fence of the airport. Meanwhile, he commended the partnership with LASBCA to bring sanity, normalcy and decency to the airport environment.