Lagos state commissioner for environment, Tokunbo Wahab, has said that the government issued the residents of Mende Villa Estate two demolition notices, both in 2021 and 2023.
He refuted claims that the affected residents were only given two-hour notice before the Saturday’s demolition of houses built on drainage channels.
Speaking in an interview on Arise News, observed by The Nation, Wahab established that with raining season, the move was to ensure better flow of water channels and prevent flooding in the state.
“If there were no notices, how come the Developer has been engaging us with documents and correspondences for the past one month?” the commissioner queried.
According to Wahab, the Lagos Civil Service consists of the most efficient personnel that would never engage in practices capable of jeopardising their career and future.
He said: “I can say it boldly, we have the best of brains in the Lagos Civil Service and they will not joke with a process that can hurt them and their careers.
“We sat down for over a week and said run through this process again; let us work back through this process. We’ve given them enough notice for this since the past two and half years. He didn’t dispute the fact that we had to dredge the particular alignment.
“Let us leave out emotions and sentiments. We have a choice to make if we want this country to be good, if we want a better society, we need to take ownership of the truth.
“The truth is, they were served notices. They were engaging the government but they want to eat their cake and have it.”
Owing to the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s magnanimity, the right-of-way (ROW) was reduced to 100 meters from 140 and spread on a 60/40 basis (60 Mende / 40 Ogudu) instead of the initial 140 sitting on the Mende side alone.
He said: “I went there myself, if I was mischievous, I won’t be there with them. I would have given the order from the office but I said, ‘no’, I owe them a duty to explain to them that even the governor had approved that we reduced the width from 140 to a 100 and that, that 100 must not fall on the side of Mende alone, that 40 should go to the side of Ogudu, where the government is having a scheme. That tells you we’re giving up something. And at that point, it reduced the impact on the Mende Villa Estate to the apartment sitting right on Odo Alaro and leaving the rest.”
Wahab also criticised Nigerian developers for their perception of the nation’s justice system while urging those that feel their rights have been violated to seek redress through the court.
“If something was gazetted in 1974 and Nigerians being who were are: we are developers, have some money, choose to believe the law will not catch up with us. The will of justice may be slow but it will definitely grind to a halt someday, somebody will ask questions. And I repeat, if they have a genuine claim, they have a place to ventilate and that’s the court of law,” he stated.
However, the commissioner emphasised that the executive did what it believed was for the overriding public interest, reiterating the residents were served demolition notices twice.
“Are one or two persons hurt? I’ll tell you maybe yes, maybe no. But I can tell you we served them notices since 2021 and the Honourable member representing them is aware of it. We’ve had meetings upon meetings but the rains have started and the government needs to do what they have to do,” he added.
