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80% of buildings in Lekki have no government approval, says commissioner

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Oluyinka Olumide, commissioner for physical planning and urban development in Lagos, says 80 percent of buildings in the Ibeju Lekki-Epe corridor have no government approval.

The Lagos government has been facing backlash for the demolition of buildings and shanties across the state.

Tokunbo Wahab, commissioner for environment in Lagos, has repeatedly said the demolished structures were erected in contravention of the city’s masterplan, were never approved by the relevant agencies, and occluded drainage channels.

In an interview with journalists, Olumide said despite the rigorous procedures involved in securing government approval, property developers and owners are still circumventing due process.

“Just last Thursday and Friday, my team and I were in the Ibeju Lekki and Epe axis and you would agree that anybody passing through that corridor would see a lot of estates marked,” he said.

“We went there, and I can tell you that from what we saw, over 80 percent of them do not have approval.

“The procedure to get approval is first to get the planning information, as to what those areas have been zoned for. In this case, what we have is agricultural land, and people now go to their families to buy agricultural land.

“Of course, those lands would be sold because those families do not know the use such land would be put to.

“The next thing to do is the fence permit. If you missed the earlier information on not knowing the area zoning, at the point of getting the fence permit, you would be able to detect what the area is zoned for. After that, the layout permits a large expanse of land.

“So, you can see all these layers. But people still go ahead to start advertising. Some have even gone to the extent of displaying the sizes they want to sell. Imagine someone in the diaspora who wants to send money without any knowledge.

“Then, no approval is eventually gotten. Even if they pass the assignment and the survey to them, we would not grant the individual permit, because that area is not zoned for that purpose.”

On Sunday, Wahab said owners of recently demolished property in Maryland had been served notices since 2021.

“We are not just doing demolitions. The law allows us to remove encumbrances on the right of way of the drainage channels,” Wahab said on Channels Television.

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Man dies while watching football in Lagos bar

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A yet-to-be-identified middle-aged man has died while watching football at a local bar along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

It was gathered that the incident happened on Thursday, May 16.

The deceased, who was a regular customer in the open bar, was said to have walked in, sat down, and started to watch a football match until he fell asleep.

Efforts to wake him when the match ended, however, proved abortive as he was found motionless.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, who confirmed the incident, said it was reported at the Elere Police Division.

He said, “The owner of a bar located along Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway reported at Elere Division that at about 6:15 pm on Thursday, one of his male customers in his 50s, whose name and address are yet unknown, came into the open bar to sit and watch television.

“He was later observed to be sleeping on the chair and in an attempt to wake him up, it was discovered that he was lifeless. The scene was visited by detectives of the division, and the deceased was seen lifeless on the chair without any mark of violence.

“The body has been removed to the Mainland General Hospital mortuary, Yaba, Lagos State for autopsy. Efforts to trace his family are in progress.”

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LASEMA rescues young man who mistakenly fell into Lagos lagoon

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The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) says it has rescued a man who “mistakenly fell” into the lagoon.

Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, LASEMA permanent secretary, told NAN that the agency received a distress call around 7am on Friday.

Oke-Osanyintolu said the man reportedly fell into the lagoon at Falomo bridge.

“Following the distress call, LASEMA activated the state’s emergency response plans with the swift arrival of LASEMA response team from Lekki zone at the incident scene at 8:02am,” NAN quoted him as saying.

“On arrival of the team at the incident scene, investigations revealed that the man had been resuscitated, and had identified himself as Segun Amoo.

“He narrated how he mistakenly fell into the Lagos lagoon at the aforementioned location.”

Oke-Osanyintolu said information obtained from Lagos State Water Authority (LASWA) revealed that Amoo was seen struggling for survival inside the lagoon.

The LASEMA permanent secretary quoted LASWA officials as saying: “Our staff had, around 11.00 p.m. yesterday night, observed Amoo struggling for survival in the lagoon waters after he fell off the bridge, thereby leading to the LASWA rescue team’s response.

“Amoo was rescued by the LASWA officials and subsequently stabilised by the agency’s pre-hospital care paramedics.

“He provided vital information about himself after resuscitation, stating that his home address is at Ilaje-Bariga, Lagos.

“He also clarified that he was not suicidal while narrating how the incident of his fall off the bridge occurred.”

Oke-Osanyintolu said the LASEMA response team proceeded to the victim’s home address for further investigations, where the rescue team handed over the victim to his relatives.

He said the victim’s brother claimed that the family had been searching for him for some time.

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Truck rams into BRT on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

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A truck has rammed into a Lagos State BRT bus at Ibafo bus-stop along the Lagos Ibadan Expressway.

Our correspondent who went to the scene gathered that the accident occurred around some minutes to 6am on Saturday.

Officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps and Police on response call at the accident scene insisted that only their Public Relations Officers were authorised to speak.

However, unconfirmed reports from onlookers noted that several people on the BRT bus were injured.

Onlookers accounts noted that the BRT was parked loading its passengers at the bus stop before the truck loaded with cows heading to Lagos rammed into it, taking it off the road to destroy shops and kiosks by the roadside.

The cow truck had been towed a little away from the scene so as not to hinder traffic.

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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