• Urge ministry to revert to old alignment, save 100 homes
About 100 property owners in the Lafiaji area of Lagos, whose property was impacted by the deviation from the original Right of Way (RoW) of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, yesterday appealed to President Bola Tinubu to urgently direct the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to halt the proposed demolition of their property for the construction of the project.

They argued that though Tinubu had directed that the construction revert to the old RoW, the Minister insisted on sticking to a new arbitrarily created RoW in the Lafiaji Eti-Osa Local Council.

They lamented that the deviation from the original RoW established over 38 years ago for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road impacted their property.

Addressing journalists in Lagos, the affected property owners represented by Prof. Oluropo Sekoni, Dr Kola Akinleye, Mr Bonojo Olalekan, Festus Ogwu and their lawyer, Mr Jiti Ogunye, disclosed that those affected had built their property with approvals and requisite title documents.

They added that those who unfortunately built on the old, long-established RoW are being inexplicably excused while those who lawfully built on their lands are being targeted.

The distraught property owners expressed worries that the Federal Ministry of Works officials had started marking the houses for demolition.

Speaking through Mr Ogunye, they explained that the government has left the old RoW and adopted arbitrariness, which invites anarchy.

They said: “We, individually, purchased and came into possession of our respective landed property at various times many years ago. We all have a common predecessor in title in the Ojomu Chieftaincy Family of Ajiran-Land in Lagos State.

“The title of our predecessor in title, before it was passed onto us, was confirmed by a judgment of the High Court of Justice of Western Nigeria, delivered on December 12, 1960, in suit no. 1/302/55 (Oba Onibeju & Ors. vs Salumonu Oyebola & Ors.), a judgment affirmed by the Supreme Court of Nigeria on January 25, 1965, in suit no. FSC/268/1963.

“Upon the announcement of that new alignment (including a new path in the Lafiaji Area), the Office of Development Matters, Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development served us ‘Removal Notice on Physical Development Within the Right of Way of the Proposed Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Project in Lagos State’.

Establishment of RoW, dated May 10, 2024, demanding that within seven days of being served the notices, we should remove our buildings from the new, arbitrarily established RoW and submit any documents of our landed property to the Permanent Secretary, Land Bureau of Lagos State, Alausa, Lagos State for compensation purposes.

“We have discovered to our chagrin that the Minister of Works has disregarded and rebuffed the clear directive of the President of Nigeria. Some of us currently are overseas and, therefore, are in no position to vacate and yield up possession of our property for demolition within the unreasonable time we were unconscionably given to flee our abodes.

“We appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to call the Minister of Works to order and direct him to abandon the whimsical and capricious new alignment for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway at Lafiaji, Eti Osa Local Council and revert to the original long-established RoW.”