DISTURBED by the ravaging ocean surge along Lekki coastlines, Lekki Urban Forest and Animal Sanctuary Initiative, LUFASI, and Babuwayu Beach community, weekend, appealed to federal government to help fight the ocean erosion that is currently threatening communities along the Lekki coast of the Atlantic Ocean.

Desmond Majekodunmi and his group putting in place palliative measures with sandbags to keep ocean surge at bay at Babuwayu Beach at the weekend.

They lamented that a large number of the coconut trees planted centuries ago to protect the shoreline from erosion have been eroded by the sea due to decades of neglect on the part of the government, which has resulted to the shoreline being washed away.

Speaking at rally organised by the group, Mr. Desmond Majekodunmi, chairman, LUFASI nature park and leader of the rally, said the erosion will always continue eastward of the groins, due to the west to east ocean current flow.

Shoreline beach buffer

He added that it is imperative that these groins are erected all the way down the coast, warning that  the country shall be courting a disaster of unprecedented proportions on this fragile coastline where the shoreline beach buffer between the ocean and the low lying inland area of Lekki which is now only 30 metres away from the ocean in some places.

Majekodunmi pointed out that “The truth is that erosion will not stop until protective measures are put in place”. He lamented that the ecology fund promised by the federal government to protect Lekki coastlines never came, insisting that federal government’s attention is needed to complement the effort of Lagos state government to combat the ocean scourge.

According to him, LUFASI has started an initiative with the local community to put in place a temporary protective measure with thousands of sandbags as temporary measures to keep the ocean surge at bay.

The traditional ruler of one of the communities under siege from the surge, Sikiru Ayinde of Babuwayu community, expressed fears that the community would soon be cut off from the city. “We have made series of appeals in writing to the government but nothing has been done. We are all living in fear as the erosion is fast approaching our houses,” he said.

Ayinde, who said they migrated from Kuramu Beach to the place when they were sacked for Eko Atlantic City project, therefore, urged the government to shun unnecessary bureaucracies and deploy its machinery to control the erosion.

Another resident of the community, Jamiu Ilesanmi, who commented on the situation, explained that the community has been under the ocean surge for more than 10 years.

He said several houses had been swept away while several lives have also been lost. He, therefore, called on Lagos and the Federal Government to look into their plight, adding that the beach, if properly developed, “would be a source of revenue for the government, as tourists will throng the beach.