Some concerned residents of Loto and Ogunrun-Ori communities in Mowe, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, have alleged indiscriminate alignment setting of the Lotto Interchange road project terminating at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) new auditorium.

They claimed that officials of the Federal Ministry of Works, who recently came for the road alignment with security personnel, including soldiers, policemen, and civil defence officials, were unfair in the alignment. According to the residents, the remarking of houses was expanded and exaggerated, contrary to the initial markings.

The indiscriminate alignment, they alleged, was one-sided and appeared to favour certain individuals. This, they argued, contradicted the promise made by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, during his visit to the project site, where he assured that there would be a review to minimise the impact on houses to be affected.

The residents accused the officials of favouritism and acting unfairly in the wrongful alignment. They noted that the number of houses affected by the new alignment was significantly higher than the initial number, which had prompted the communities to appeal to the minister for reconsideration.

“For instance, in the alignment, while between 27 metres and 30 metres were marked on one side, 0.5 and 5.5 metres were marked on the other side of the same road without including the existing road,” a resident stated.

Another resident said, “In some cases, it is between 6.5 metres and three metres on one side and between 20 and 35 metres on the other side of the same road, whereas the officials ought to ensure balance and fairness.”

The resident further alleged: “Owners of houses on the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) side of the road were favoured in the realignment, with 3.0 metres marked on their side, while houses in the community on the same road were marked between 20 metres and 29 metres, excluding the existing road.”

This, he claimed, made the alignment appear to favour RCCG members.

The concerned residents have urged the minister to review their complaints and address the imbalance and anomalies in the alignment. They also alleged that the alignment was in a zig-zag form rather than being straight.

It will be recalled that the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos State, MrsOlukorede Keisha, had previously assured that the government would consider the concerns raised by the communities.

She had said, “We are just trying to reduce the design so that it won’t affect many people. If it was supposed to affect like 100 houses before, now we are reducing it to 10.”