Rear Admiral Ibukunle Olaiya (Retd) has protested the illegal sale of green areas near Block 113, Lekki Phase 1 by unscrupulous officials of the Lagos State Government against the original master plan that reserved the space for essential public infrastructure.

The retired officer in separate letters to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Commissioner for Environment, Tokunbo Wahab, for himself and on behalf of concerned Lagosians and residents in the Lekki axis, said it is a matter of grave concern that the green areas have been allocated to someone, who has begun construction.

In the letter entitled “Urgent attention needed: illegal sales of Green Areas near Block 113, Lekki Phase 1” and dated April 26, 2024, Admiral Olaiya said those areas are being sold for personal gains.

The Petitioner wondered why such should be occurring despite the existence of regulatory bodies like the Ministry of Physical Planning and the New Town Development Agency, tasked with overseeing development in the area.

Before the recent letters, he had through his lawyer, Abosede Akande of Law Corporate, petitioned the governor, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Physical Planning, Ministry of Lands as well as Police authorities, explaining that the green areas were designated for future road expansion and erosion management.

While the Commissioner for Environment ordered that construction should stop, the office of the governor minuted the complaint letter to the office of the Attorney General, who in a letter signed by a deputy director, Adekunle Laditan, dated January 25, requested for the survey plan of the area “for necessary action on the petition accordingly.”

However, while waiting for the outcome of the AG’s intervention after supplying it with the survey plan, “unknown persons”, he said, attempted to begin construction in the designated area, prompting him to petition the Police to stop them.

Reacting to this “interruption”, counsel to the developer, Gainsville Limited, Prof Dayo Amokaye (SAN), in a pre-action letter explained that Gainsville is the beneficial owner of the property by a Statutory Right of Occupancy granted by the Executive Governor of Lagos State and evidenced by a Certificate of Occupancy and a subsequent Deed of Assignment.

He warned that if the complaints do not desist from further entering his clients’ land and obstructing any of its agents from lawfully taking physical possession and effecting development and/or trespassing on the land, they shall have no other option than to use all legitimate means to protect its proprietary interest in the land.

Meanwhile, Akande, counsel to the complainants in his response denied that his clients deployed naval personnel to chase away the developers, adding that it was the developer who rather engaged fully armed policemen to forcibly take possession of the land.

He insisted that the land is designated a green verge area that must not be constructed on, explaining that when his clients wanted to build in the space and sought the permission of the authorities, they were categorically denied on the ground that no development would take place there except for road expansion and erosion management.

He asked the lawyer to advise his client to follow the due process of the law by halting further construction on the site and waiting for the outcome of the investigation already kick-started by the Office of the Attorney General of Lagos State. (Daily Independent)

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