Property owners decry demolition of Ikeja building

Owners of property on No. 4, Ladoke Akintola Street, Government Reserved Area (GRA), Ikeja, Lagos, Chief Adetunji Omisore and Tajudeen Mohammed, have decried the demolition and sealing of the building by the State government on July 19, 2022.
[ad] 
In a statement, the aggrieved owners claimed that Lagos State Building Control Agency (LSBCA) issued them a seven-day notice on July 15.
  
“On Monday, July 18, we approached the General Manager of LSBCA, Gbolahan Oki, for clarification, presenting the fact that the property in question is under authorisation and jurisdiction of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
 
“Efforts to prove to the agency that we have the approved documents on the said land fell on deaf ears as we were kicked out of the office and ordered to send the documents through an official channel the following day.
[ad] 
“However, without waiting for the seven-day notice to lapse, on Tuesday, July 19, the agency moved caterpillar and black maria to the site to begin demolition of our over N500 million investment as early as 6:00 am, barricading the property, while the workers were assaulted.”

“It took the intervention of the Presidential Committee on Lease in Abuja, to put a stop to the demolition after frantic calls.
 
“By then, a new six-bedroom bungalow, a penthouse, reception of the hotel building, among others had been levelled down on the 3,800 square metres property”, the owners alleged.

Contacted, an official of LSBCA, said the Ministry of Information would address the issue in due course, stressing that: “It is the government agency that is competent to speak on the matter.”
[ad]