When there is an emergency issue within Lagos Island, responders often have challenges accessing the scene of the incident principally because of lawlessness on the part of residents and traders within the corridor. As a result of this, the damages from emergency cases are usually higher.

And one of the major reasons emergency responders usually do not have easy access to disaster point is the many illegal building extensions and attachments that have been erected by landlords, residents and traders, which obstruct the movement of emergency equipment to accidents scenes.

It was, therefore, not surprising that after repeated fire incidents around Dosunmu, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, ordered that all illegal extensions around buildings should be removed.

Following the governor’s directive, the state Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Oluyinka Olumide, also frowned at the practice of illegally converting residential buildings to commercial premises and unduly erecting attachments to structures, stating it was high time for sanity and orderliness to reign across the state.

He said: “The state would not tolerate the spate of lawlessness witnessed in commercial centres such as Lagos Island, Ikeja, and Iyana-Ipaja, where shops are illegally extended with sheds and steel external stairways in a bid to attract customers.”

Olumide gave a two-week ultimatum for owners of illegal extensions to remove them, failing which the state government would commence statewide demolition of such structures, precisely on February 15, starting from Lagos Island.

Months after the governor’s directive, the demolition exercise is being carried out by a combined team of the Ministry of Special Duties; Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development; Ministry of Environment and Water Resources; Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA); Lagos Neighborhood Safety Corps (LNSC), Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service; Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC, also know as KAI); Lagos State Urban Renewal Agency (LASURA); Lagos Central Business Districts and the Nigeria Police Force.

While some work has been done around removing the illegal attachments to buildings within Lagos Island, it was gathered that some of the illegal extensions were being re-erected. This is why some stakeholders fear that in days to come, all the illegal attachments to buildings would resurface resulting in a return to the past.

Commenting on the works done so far in removing illegal attachments to buildings, the Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, Mr. Segun Olaoye, said that illegal extensions around buildings in 15 streets on Lagos Island had been removed.

On if there had been resistance from some stakeholders, he said no, stating that the Community Development Associations (CDAs) including market men and women have cooperated with the team.

“This is probably because they even saw the needs to open the roads so that vehicles can come in and fight the fire. Even some roads that were blocked that we didn’t know that are roads were opened up and vehicles passing through them.”

Also, the Director, Admin and Human Resources, Central Business Districts, Isola Rahman, said that a substantial amount of extensions and attachments on buildings have been removed though the work has not been completed.

He, however, disclosed that as some of the attachments were being removed, some keep going back to re-erect the extensions and attachments.

“We have worked in Balogun, Martins, Idumota, Nnamdi Azikwe. We have touched virtually every phase in Lagos Island, but you know we have so many shops, and as we are removing it, some keep erecting back and even attacking our staff.
“Although the challenge we have is that LASBCA is the agency helping us to remove the illegal attachments and they have some other areas apart from Lagos Island to work on.”

Rahman pleaded with residents, landlords and traders to desist from re-erecting any attachment removed as the removal is in the collective interest of all stakeholders.

When the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, was contacted on government’s efforts to ensure the removed building attachments and extensions are not re-erected, he said that the state government aside kicking off a campaign against the act, it would keep demolishing such attachments and extensions because it is illegal and against the state law.

“We would continue to pull them down as any illegal attachment cannot be part of the approved building and as such remains a violation of the state law.”