The Lagos State government has sealed a construction site for a proposed cemetery within a residential neighbourhood in the Bode Thomas area of Surulere.
The action followed a Saturday morning protest by residents of the Natufe/Animashaun community, who argued that locating a cemetery in their area would contaminate their water supply.
Reacting to reports of resumed construction work at the site, Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso, assured residents that no burial ground would be developed there.He said: “The burial ground site is sealed, and no such project will be developed there, thus the people need not worry.”
Residents of Natufe Street, off Babs Animashaun Road, defied heavy rains on Saturday to stage the protest, alleging that a similar attempt by the developer, Olumide Amure, a few years ago had been resisted. They expressed shock that he had resumed construction “in outright disregard” of their safety and well-being.
The demonstrators, carrying placards with inscriptions such as “No cemetery,” gathered at the site, a large expanse bordered by residential buildings, a school, and a church, just a few metres from the Bode Thomas junction traffic light.
When contacted on Saturday, the developer, Mr Amure, told The Guardian that he would revert after some time to provide a detailed response. However, as at the time of filing this report, he had yet to respond or reply to a reminder message sent to his mobile phone.
Chairperson of the Natufe/Animashaun Community Development Association (CDA), Omolabake Braimoh, said: “The developer tried it over two years ago, and we opposed it. Suddenly, we noticed he has started construction again and is working day and night to achieve his purpose. So, we are out here again saying no because a cemetery is not good here.
“We heard he wants to build an adult cemetery here and one for children about three blocks away. We do not want it. We are not using pipe-borne water. Our source of water is boreholes, which a cemetery will pollute.” She added that the CDA had written letters to the Chairman of Coker-Aguda LCDA and would send more to relevant government agencies to halt the project.
Also speaking, a former CDA chairman, Olarenwaju Olaniyan, said the same developer had been stopped by authorities during his tenure. “Olumide Amure knows me very well. The first time he started this, some years ago, we fought it from the local government to the state level. We have all the documents with us. He was stopped by the government.
“But I heard now that he has permission. I am not speaking about that permission because I trust that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu will never give such approval. The developer should know the consequences of his actions and desist from such a wicked act. We will not allow him to pollute our land. We won’t allow him to kill us all because what he is trying to do is bring an epidemic for those of us living here.
“We are surviving on boreholes, and the moment you start burying people here, you will pollute our ground and water. You will kill us all. The community says no to turning this place into a burial ground,” Olaniyan said.
He added that 11 petitions were sent to relevant agencies and offices during the earlier dispute, noting that the community would repeat the same process this time.
