Behind the Rubble: Unapproved Demolition of Lekki and Ikota Buildings Raises Questions

Demolished buildings in Lekki and Ikota had no approvals from Lagos state- Commissioner

The Lagos state commissioner of Environment, Tokunbo Wahab has stated that the buildings demolished in the Lekki and Ikota axis about two weeks ago had no approvals from the state government.

The commissioner stated this in an interview with Arise TV with the uproar generated by the recent demolitions by the state government through the Ministry of Environment.

When asked if the buildings being demolished had any form of approval from the state government, Mr Wahab retorted,

“If they have approvals, you’d have seen it on social media… if they have approvals, let them bring it forward”

Speaking on which ministry or agency of government is responsible for building approvals, and ensuring buildings are not erected in drainage, the commissioner stated that the duty falls within the purview of the state’s physical planning ministry.

In his words, “Interestingly, that should be the responsibility of the physical planning Ministry. However, most of them have a way of flying approvals.”

He further explained that some developers intend to build in about ten plots but only get approvals for two plots and will go ahead to build on more than two plots and that’s the reason for the recent demolitions.

Reason for the demolitions

Mr Wahab commented on the reasons for the recent demolitions stating that they were necessitated by the petitions of about twelve villages to the Governor on consistent floodings and that owners of the affected buildings had consistently defied the state government’s notices since 2020.

He stated,

“Between COVID and about four weeks ago, there were notices served on them that you can’t do this. Twelve villages that were relocated from Maroko petitioned the Governor that they were getting flooded daily.”

“How did we get to this point? These were their notices but the typical bad behaviour and bold attitude of I can do it, and nobody can question me” was responsible.

In the past few weeks, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment carried out demolition exercises on buildings sitting on canals and waterways around the Lekki and Ikota axis of the state.

However, the action has been misconstrued by some members of the public who added a toga of ethnicity claiming the action was targeted at people from certain parts of the country.