Lagos Commissioner: Illegal builders can be required to reimburse for demolition costs

Tokunbo Wahab, the Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, made a suggestion that unlicensed builders whose homes are demolished would soon be required to reimburse the cost of the destruction.

Wahab made this revelation on Tuesday in response to a tweet from Ola Kasali, who used the handle @Olakaslas on X (formerly Twitter) to voice his opinion that someone who criticized the Lagos State Government for recently demolishing buildings in the Mende estate at Kosofe Local Government Area of the state ought to be held accountable for the costs associated with demolition and cleanup.

On July 29, 2008, Managing Director of Legrande Engineering Services Limited received a picture of a building development permit from the Lagos State Physical Planning and Development Authority, with reference number KS07/DO/375/45/109, signed by Mrs. PO Emuze, the District Officer of Kosofe District at the time. This Ilemona goes by the handle @I_am_Ilemona.

The letter read, “I am directed to inform you that your application for development permit has been granted approval under the provisions of the Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2005. Physical Development Provisions.

“You are, however, advised to maintain the conditions given in the Development Permit and comply with the conditions stated by the Ministry of Environment.:

Ilemona then questioned why the estate’s properties were being demolished despite a building permit that was signed sixteen years prior.

In response, Wahab sent a lengthy tweet that said, “Dear @I_Am_Ilemona, let me take a few minutes to educate you again. I have had to ignore a lot of people making ignorant positions about the Mende issue.”

“First, the tweet you mischievously attached this document to was my response to your attention-seeking tweet, just as this one about Ikota, where some other people also encroached on the canal’s right-of-way. This has since been removed, and construction of the drainage channel is currently ongoing.

“In your very shallow opinion on Mende, take your time to read item 3.0 of the document that you posted, stating, and I quote, ‘You are, however, advised to maintain the conditions given in the Development Permit and comply with the conditions stated by the Ministry of Environment.’ The question now is, were the conditions met? No! The condition was simple: to leave a certain metre away from the beacon.”

The developer funding the protesters, according to the commissioner, understood exactly what he was doing.

“The Developer who is sponsoring many of you knew what he was doing. He went ahead, encroaching on the part for which he was not approved. If you build beyond the approved plan, you have violated the conditions of approval, and your approval becomes entirely invalid. As they say, ‘The wheel of justice may be slow, but one day, it will grind to a halt.’ ”

He, however, noted that the era of what he described as ‘anyhowness’ in the state id now over, adding, “We cannot be complaining about a problem and still complain about the solution.”

Pleased with his response, a user, Ola Kasali, who tweeted with the handle @Olakaslas, wrote, “The commissioner only gave him just one of his crimes, the second one is what I am giving you, and there is a 3rd and a 4th. In fact, this person owes the government demolition and cleaning fees.”

Wahab further replied, “At some point, we’ll get to that!.”

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The Arowojogbe structures in Mende estate are being demolished by the Lagos State Government.

When social media videos of the exercise surfaced, the demolition infuriated the locals.

Wahab explained that the buildings were torn down in order to prevent the whole continental shelf from flooding.

The commissioner further mentioned that the buildings that were demolished were situated on the Odo Iya Alaro River’s System 1 drainage right-of-way.

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