Don’t demolish our houses, residents beg Sanwo-Olu

• Want Fasheun Bridge Reconstructed, Canal Desilted

Some landlords and residents of Oke-Afa and Jakande Estate, especially those within Bucknor and Olive estates, are daily living in fear following the vacate notice served owners of some structures the government said were built on canal setbacks and right-of-way.

While government seems to be claiming that the violation of the building code is why the community is usually flooded, residents are saying the flooding in the community is a product of government’s failure to desilt the canal as well as low level of the Fasheun Bridge, which obstruct free flow of water through the canal.

The residents are, however, appealing to government to treat the matter with human face as hundreds of millions of naira and investment would be lost if government implement its order of demolishing the over 90 buildings marked by the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources.

Some of the residents who spoke with The Guardian disagreed with the government. They maintained that the major problem is not the structures but the Fasheun wooden bridge, which connects Okota to Jakande Estate and other neighbouring communities.

According to them, the bridge is not only low, but a death trap. They also alleged that the drainages/canals complained of by the government have not been re-dredged in the last five years.

One of the residents, Desmond Jones, said: “Let the truth be told, the Fasheun Bridge is very low and the canal is very shallow. Again, if you leave a canal for five years without dredging it, what do you expect? So these are the major problems the communities are facing.”

He appealed to the government to come to their aid by rebuilding the Fasheun Bridge and make it higher.

Also, the Secretary, Olive Estate Community Development Association, Christian Chukwuemeka Obayi, argued that the structures close to the canals are not blocking the drainages/canals as alleged by the government, but the Fasheun Bridge.

He said they had over the years complained to the government but nothing has been done to rectify the problem.

He, nonetheless, said that when they got the quit notice, the community quickly wrote to the government, pleading for leniency, which was not responded to.

Similarly, President, Residents Association of Jakande Estate, Oke-Afa, Low Cost and Medium Estate, Fatai Oloko, while urging the government to be proactive in whatever it is doing, said: “When new communities are coming up, government should not wait until people invest millions of naira before sending either town planning from local government or state government to map out their infrastructure, drainage lines, and setbacks.”

Oloko, who called on government to prioritise human lives, also blamed some people for not obeying rules and regulations.

He said: “I’m aware that government was considerate, they were told to provide eight meters away from the edge of the drainage.”

The CDA chairman of Bucknor Estate, Alhaji Toyin Saka, also complained that Fasheun Bridge and the canal are not deep enough.

“As long as the bridge remains there, our people will continue to experience serious issues.”

Aside from the quit notice, residents also complained about the serious flooding in their domains.

The General Overseer of God’s Congregational Church (CGC), Bucknor Estate, Pastor Emmanuel Adegbola Aladesoye, lamented how flood sacked them from the church, with no services held for three weeks.

He attributed the flooding in the area to the shallow canal.

He said: “One day, we were sleeping the flood pulled down the fence.”

Oloko, who is also the second Vice Chairman of Ejigbo Community Development Committee (CDC), narrated a chilling story of how he saved a family from being electrocuted after their house got flooded.

The Director, Public Affairs, Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, Kunle Adeshina, was contacted, but did not respond to the calls and text message sent to him.