Again Soldiers Seal Off Another N7 Billion Lagos Housing Project

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Wednesday, April 9th, 2014

Soldiers, fully armed on Tuesday invaded the site of a Lagos State Housing project on Lagos Island, Nigeria and sealed off the place after driving away construction workers on site.

The soldiers were said to be acting under the instruction of the Federal Government saying they are members of the Presidential Taskforce.

Secretary of Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC), Mr. Babajimi Benson said “We were developing a large parcel of land opposite the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) building in Ikoyi. We are building three structures one is multi story car park that is expected to accommodate 850 cars.

“We are about 40 percent into the project. The car park has facility to accommodate physically challenged. In that same building we are building offices that will accommodate Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) Head office, and also a world-class jetty that will be used by all Lagosians.

“At about 10 am this morning, we got a distressing call from our partner, unfortunately our partner is funding the project and have expended about N7 billion on the project. The tax payers money of Lagos state is not involved at all. When we received the call, we rushed to the site and saw soldiers in their uniform asking us to show proof of ownership and title to that land,” he explained.

According to him, the LSDPC had the Certificate of Occupancy to the land, as the corporation had been working on the land since 2010 without any form of molestation.

The Managing Director of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), Mr. Yinka Marinho lamented the stopping of the project by the federal government.

“It is unfortunate that we find ourselves in this situation because a lot of work has gone into it. We have however put a temporary jetty at Falomo pending the building of a new jetty. It happens to be a major stop for most commuters who use waterways for workers who work around Ikoyi and Obalende areas,’ he said.

Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba blamed the recent tussle and cold war between the state and Federal Government on the Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musliu Obanikoro.

Last week, Governor Babatunde Fashola had disclosed that Obanikoro brought soldiers to stop its Housing Project at Ilubirin, Lagos Island, adding that the federal government also used soldiers to stop its projects at Oyingbo Market, claiming the land belonged to the Federal Government.