LAST week, agents of the Federal Government and Lagos State Government swooped on some buildings in Ajao Estate and Shasha areas and brought down no fewer than 13 mansions said to have been illegally constructed close to the perimeter fence of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Isolo.
Before embarking on the grim job, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, and the Lagos State Building Control Agency, LASBCA, led by FAAN’s General Manager, Business Development, Hycienth Ngwu and LASBCA’s Gbolahan Oki, addressed the media and justified the action they were about to take.
Oki said the houses were built without genuine permits. Some of them lacked proper plan approvals. They were also allegedly built on pipelines that convey aviation fuel to the airports, with the risk of explosions that could endanger lives and property.
Ngwu affirmed that the land belonged to FAAN. It was acquired for the purpose of developing the airport, but some builders illegally encroached on it. For years they had ignored warnings to stop construction near the airport’s perimeter fences. The threat of demolition had been issued since 2016. He expressed relief that the state government decided to act accordingly.
We wonder how anybody in their right frame of mind would build their houses on any pipeline or close to airport perimeter fences without thinking of the danger to lives and property and the consequences of encroaching on government land.
Also on the other side, how could government agents such as FAAN and LASBCA continue to watch people encroach and build on government land for years only to suddenly wake up for demolitions of billions of naira proceeds of individuals’ sweat?
This can only be possible when greedy or ignorant individuals collude with crooked government officials and families which had forfeited their land to government for the public good to violate the law.
It is these same government officials who issued the fake approvals that turn around to carry out the demolitions. Therefore, the onus is on developers to do thorough due diligence before parting with their hard-earned money to buy and build.
They should use the services of licenced estate agents and seasoned lawyers to know where land is still available for purchase.
It is so unfortunate that in almost every case such as this, government officials that issued the fake documents are never identified and brought to justice. Because of this, the crime continues, and the victims are almost always left to lick their wounds alone without justice.
We encourage those who feel they have genuine cases of possible victimisation, perhaps on political grounds, to pursue justice in the courts.
Let others learn from the experiences of the rest who jay-walked into well-laid booby traps by criminal syndicates in and around government.
