By Olasunkanmi Akoni

Residents of government Housing Estates in Lagos state have counted their losses as government agents embarked on removal of illegal structures identified to be in violation of state environmental law.

Meantime, Lagos State House of Assembly has directed the Lagos State Building Investment Co-operation, LBIC, to halt the proposed demolition of structures by in Ijaiye Housing Estate, Pen Cinema, Agege, Lagos State pending the investigation by the house Committee on Physical Planning and Urban Development over the proposed demolition.

The demolition came three months after a similar exercise in Jakande Estate where the Secretary of Jakande Estate Landlord Association, Mr. Toba Johnson, claimed that about 12,000 shops were demolished and about 20,000 traders displaced.

It was gathered that the state government, through the state Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, had earlier issued an ultimatum for the removal of all the illegal structures as failure to do so would attract forceful demolition.

The government argued that the structures were in violation of the Estate’s Master Plan, and, should be removed to restore the original master plan of the estate drawn over 20 years ago.

One of the affected traders, Mrs. Rosemary Nwachukwu, claimed that abatement letter was served at a very short notice and she had no other place to go.

She lamented that; “Though, we thank the state government for giving us the opportunity to remove our structures by ourselves but we have invested so much on erecting the structures. We have lost so much in this exercise at this time of hardship in the economy.”

Also, in a similar exercise at Ojokoro Housing Estate, Meiran, over 300 shop owners who are mostly retirees from the state government were affected.

It was gathered that in order to beat the the government’s ultimatum, affected people embarked on evacuation of their property including roof tops and other accessories.

Some of the affected residents who spoke to Vanguard accused the state government of taking away their means of livelihood, even as the economic recession bites harder on citizens.

Olalekan, with tears in her eyes, lamented, “we are helpless as senior citizens of this country. We are mostly state government retirees. This is what we are managing to keep ourselves alive and our children. The structures are not obstructing any plan other than that the government claims that it is against the Master Plan of the Estate. At this time of economic recession this is absolutely unfair and insensitive of the government.

”There is no plan for markets inside the estate so how do we get access to petty goods and households stuff. Do we have to trek a whole distance to markets to get all these items? Government should have a rethink. Some of us are the breadwinners of our family, so, now that they have asked us to move away from our means of livelihood, where do we go from here.”