The Lagos State Government, through the Lagos State Building Control Agency, has taken a firm stance on demolishing buildings that lack the necessary building plan permits.
The agency’s General Manager, Gbolahan Oki, made this vow during a press briefing with journalists on Friday.
He said, “My duty is for any property without a building plan approval, of which I would have to serve all the necessary notices, and once these notices are served without anyone providing a document to that effect, it means that property is an illegal structure.
“This issue has been going on around Ogombo, Eti-Osa area of the state in the last 5 years, and I have been on it for one and a half year. Hence, we are doing the needful by removing the illegal structures because the government must perform their duty.”
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Speaking on the demolition of some of the properties located at Ogombo, the LABSCA boss said most of the structures were shanties.
“80-90 per cent are shanties and between 5 – 10 structures at Ogombo are without building plan approval,” he noted.
While decrying the issue of land grabbers disturbing government officials in doing their job at Ogombo, Eti-Osa area of the state, he noted that irrespective of the notices, the land grabbers had continued to build on the land owned by the state government and meant for housing.
He declared, “We have been on Ogombo, Eti-Osa area of the state for over 5 – 10 years. It is a land owned by the state government and meant for housing.
“The land grabbers keep going there to disturb the government officials, sell the lands, and continue to build on those lands meant for the state government, some even come with a fake Certificate of Occupancy.
“We have to stop this act and note that land grabbers are not bigger than the government or the people and we really need to curb them.”
Oki, thereafter, urged that proper due diligence process be conducted before a property is bought.
“When due diligence is conducted, the legal practitioner involved in documenting the agreement would be able to decipher the status of the property,” he concluded.
