By Kingsley Adegboye

In its efforts to rid the state of illegal structures, Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), at the weekend carried out the demolition of controversial building at Mende in Maryland area of Lagos metropolis under the supervision of LASBCA’s General Manager, Mr. Sola Adeigbe.

File photo: Collapsed building in Surulere

The exercise according to Adeigbe, was ordered by the state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, who has expressed his desire to remove all illegal structures that adorn some parts of the state, adding that the owner of the property built on a road setback.

According to the GM, apart from the fact that the building was erected on a road setback, it was also an illegal construction, as no permit was obtained from the agency before commencement of work on the site.

Adeigbe disclosed that the location of the construction was not qualified to be called a land because it is the end of a road, stressing that if it is allowed, by the time the developer finishes construction and erects a fence, it would block the other occupant of the adjoining building from accessing his own property. “And to worsen the matter, the owner of the illegal structure did not obtain any permit from the agency before commencing development”, he noted.

Adeigbe said that the owner of the building was served a notice about two months ago but did not deem it fit to come to the agency to regularise her documents before embarking on construction, maintaining that that if the woman had come to the agency, no approval would have been given to her to commence work at the site building because it is at the end of a road.

He frowned at a situation where some people just begin construction without obtaining permit from the agency which is statutorily empowered to monitor and grant approval before the commencement of any building project in the state.

According to him, the directive to pull down the building came from the governor, adding that if the owner of the structure was found, she would have been prosecuted going by the directive from the governor.

The GM pointed out that there was no need to talk about compensation for the owner of the building because ‘’in the first place, it was not supposed to be there “.

However, reacting to the demolition, the owner of the building who spoke under anonymity, said that she bought the land from the ‘’Omonile’’, adding that since she started construction on the site, nobody had challenged or disputed the ownership of the land with her.

According to her, she was already processing her papers with the Kosofe Local Government under whose purview the area is situated. She added that she was not aware that she should have gone to the agency to regularize her papers before commencing development.

The woman, who said the land was bought for her by her late husband about six years ago, hinted that she lost her husband last year. She noted that the the building which was already at roofing level was not in any way obstructing any building, adding that in fact, the owner of the next building to her even encroached on her land.