Anxiety has gripped many landlords and other residents of Magodo as the Lagos State Government has given the indications that over 100 houses may be demolished.
In response to the recent collapse of a building in which a woman and her three children died, the government has marked over 100 buildings for removal in the area.
Officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, LASBCA, led by the General Manager, Engr. Abiola Kosegbe were, at Otun Araromi area of Isheri – Magodo-Isheri on Thursday, October 17th to monitor illegal development in the area, especially Orisha waterfront where the collapsed building that killed four people occurred.
According to them, it was discovered that over 100 illegal buildings have been marked for removal in the waterlogged area to avert disaster. Residents were seen paddling canoe to get to their destination as flood had taken over the road and hundreds of properties.
Kosegbe said, “We are just here to take an inventory of everything going on. We are 100 percent sure that majority of properties here don’t have development permit. So, we are going to take inventory of properties here and we have already served most of them, we will come back, and then they need to bring all their documents.
“Definitely, this is a flood-prone area and is susceptible to flooding. Before people can build here, there is supposed to be engineering feat that needs to be done. We will come back here, properties that don’t have permit, then we will ensure occupants vacate their properties.”
According to her, notices have been given by the commissioner to residents of the area that they needed to vacate, as the area was not safe for habitation.
“This is a disaster waiting to happen. Not only that, the health hazards of living in this condition is serious. For properties up on the hill, we are equally going to serve them because we need to see their foundation design, their slope stabilisation method. Every single property, they will show us their development permits and details as to how they managed to build on that hills to prevent any slide, mudslide or whatever.
“Other areas similar to this topography in Lagos, we will visit them and ensure they do the right thing to prevent this from happening again. The issue is that there is no excuse, you can see the terrain.”
