Lagos State government, through its Building Control Agency (LASBCA), has vowed to demolish buildings without approved building plan permits at Ogombo part of the state.
 
The agency’s General Manager, Gbolahan Oki, who disclosed this while decrying the erection of illegal structures and shanties on government lands at Ogombo, Eti-Osa Local Government Area, said about 80 to 90 per cent of these structures are shanties, while between five and 10 structures in the area are without building plan approval.
 
While decrying the issue of land grabbers, who prevent government officials from doing their job in the area, said despite the notices, the land grabbers have continued to build on government land.
 
He said: “My focus is on properties without building plan approval, I would serve all necessary notices, and once these are served without anyone presenting necessary documents to that effect, it means such properties are illegal structures and would be treated as such.
  
He said: “This issue has been going on around Ogombo in the last five years, and I have been on it for one and half years. We are doing the needful by removing the illegal structures because the government must perform its statutory duty.
 
“We have been in Ogombo, in the last five to 10 years. It is a land owned by the state government and was meant for housing.
 
“The land grabbers kept going there to disturb government officials by selling the lands and have continued to build on those lands. Some even came with fake certificates of occupancy.
 
“We have to stop this act because the land grabbers are not bigger than the government, or the people.”
 
Oki subsequently appealed to prospective buyers to ensure due diligence before buying any property.
 
“When due diligence is done, the legal practitioner involved in documenting the agreement would be able to decipher the status of the property,” he noted.