MORE than 500 houses have been marked for demolition by the Lagos State Government over encroachment into Right of Way (RoW), residents of the Ikotun-Egbe axis have claimed.
Lagos State Government had approved the location for the construction of a road to link Ijegun to Ije-Ododo and Abule-Ado areas along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway in the State.
Having realised the reality of imminent demolition and its consequence on their businesses and properties, residents and business owners have expressed great sorrow and despondence over the impending action. Hence they are pleading to the government to consider them with concessions.
One of the houses marked for demolitionMrs Ukusare Florence said: "We are calling on the government to please come to our aid in Ikotun axis linking Ijegun and Ijeododo concerning the demolition of houses acclaimed to be on the Right of Way (ROW) road, leaving behind the original Right of Way (ROW)."
According to her, "there had been an initial and original Right of Way in existence since 1972 but recently changed in 2011 for the exploitation of land grabbers known as omo-oniles, who immediately began to sell the land spaces initially mapped out as public roads.
A leftover pillar, relics of houses initially built on the old plan, now used as a road
"The plan has been changed again and more than 500 houses have been marked for demolition," Florence bemoaned.
Another property owner, Olusegun Babalola, whose house and private school have been marked for demolition, lamented that his entire life's investments would be pulled down soon when construction work begins, pleading that the state government should consider compensating them.
A lawyer, Abel Iwarah, reacting to insinuations that some of the residents were planning to approach the court, urged the affected property owners to shelve their plan of seeking litigation so as not to delay or truncate the road project in the interest of public good. He added that the government reserves the right to appropriate any land for development or public purposes, such as roads and schools.
