President Bola Tinubu has been urged by certain Eti-Osa Local Government Area (LGA) residents of Lagos to step in and put an end to the “unlawful and unwarranted” exercise after they received demolition notices about the proposed Lagos-Calabar coastal route construction.
In a letter to the president, the property owners accused David Umahi, the Minister of Works, of power abuse and “unlawful exercise of ministerial discretion,” with public interest attorney Jiti Ogunye signing on their behalf.
The property owners implored President Bola Tinubu to step in and order the minister to revert to the existing, well-established right of way and forsake the new highway alignment at Lafiaji, Eti Osa LGA.
There is a lot of dispute about the roadway. A private company called Landmark, which is located in Lagos’ upscale Victoria Island neighborhood along the Atlantic Ocean shore, is also impacted.
Open-ended letter
The open letter is headed “Pleading for presidential intervention: Distortion in the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway by the Minister of Works and the Federal Controller of Works by arbitrary deviation from the long-established right of way and the threatened unlawful demolition of property of owners and residents at Lafiaji community, Eti-Osa Local Government Area, Lagos State.”
Mr. Ogunye mentioned that the Lagos State Government has designated certain properties in the Lafiaji community for removal and demolition, operating on behalf of the federal Ministry of Works.
“Among our esteemed and law-abiding senior citizens in this nation are Professor Oluropo Sekoni, Dr. Kola Akinleye, Mr. Bonojo Olalekan, Mr. Festus Ogwu, and several more.
The attorney stated in the open letter, “Our clients are compelled to write you this open letter as a desperate step to secure relief and save their homes and property from an impending unlawful and unwarranted demolition.”
How the estates were bought
Mr. Ogunye stated that his clients obtained the necessary state government consents “to their deeds of assignments, had their respective survey plans hewed from the approved Ojomu Family Layout Plan, and obtained all the necessary building approvals and development permits from the relevant agencies of the Lagos State Government” in order to acquire their plots of land and develop their homes and properties.
Over eighty (80) people make up our clientele; each person bought and possessed their piece of land at different points over a long time. In terms of title, they are all descended from the Ojomu Chieftaincy Family of Ajiran-Land in Lagos State.
Before it was transferred to our clients, the title of their predecessor in title was upheld by a ruling made by the High Court of Justice of Western Nigeria in Oba Onibeju & Ors. vs. Salumonu Oyebola & Ors., Suit No. I/302/55, on December 12, 1960. This ruling was upheld by the Nigerian Supreme Court on January 25, 1965, in Suit No. FSC/268/1963.
Following the enactment of the Lands Use Act, of 1978, the aforementioned title was further validated by a ruling rendered on October 18, 1991, by the Lagos State High Court in Suit No. ID/1883/89 (Alhaji Fatai Ajetumobi & Ors vs. Attorney-General of Lagos State). This ruling stated that the Ojomu Chieftaincy Family was the rightful owner of the customary right of occupancy over the aforementioned land. In the end, the Lagos State Government accepted the aforementioned ruling by publishing an Official Gazette No. 15. Vol. 37, 2004, dated April 7, 2004, and removing the entire Lafiaji Village from mandatory worldwide acquisition. This removal includes the landed property of our clients.
Demolition
Over time, according to Mr. Ogunye, some landowners built on the aforementioned right of way, “constructing huge estates crisscrossing the same in the illusion that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway would never be built, without any valid legal title to the land on which they built; or with the assistance of government officials, fabricated certificates of occupancy with embossed survey-plans (the area coordinates of which truly are those of lands adjacent and proximate to the right of way, but which are passed off as those of lands situated within or covering the right of way, to obtain certificates of occupancy).”
“These individuals additionally either failed to obtain legitimate building approvals and development permits from the pertinent Lagos State Government agencies or were aided by dishonest government officials in obtaining falsified documentation.”
Charge
By specifically instructing surveyors of the Federal Government of Nigeria (Ministry of Works) on the project to establish a fresh right of way, create a new alignment, and alter the road course into the area where their plots of land and houses were situated, an area which was not covered by the long-established right of way, the residents accused the minister of departing from the original right of way.
Based on current information, it appears that the Office of the Surveyor-General of Lagos State has not complied with the revised alignment mandated by the Minister of Works, the Federal Controller of Works, and the Lands Bureau. Interestingly, however, our clients have been served with a “Removal Notice on Physical Development Within the Right of Way (RoW) of the Proposed Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Project in Lagos State, dated May 10, 2024,” from the Office of Development Matters, Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development. This notice requires them to remove their buildings from the newly established, arbitrary right of way and submit any relevant documents of their landed property, for compensation, to the Permanent Secretary, Lands Bureau of Lagos State, Alausa, Lagos State, stated Mr. Ogunye.
The residents asserted that Ocean Bay is one of the estates constructed on the right-of-way.
Mr. Ogunye stated that although his clients understood why their “legal rights and interests must be sacrificed to please violators of the long-established Right of Way, whose illegally constructed property (houses) can be demolished and removed without any compensation whatsoever, and with justification,” they were fully in favor of the highway’s construction.
“Why are law-abiding citizens, who are our clients, rewarded with oppression, while violators, who built on the long-established Right of Way with knowledge and arrogance, are treated with reverence?” Mr. Ogunye enquired.
In response
When contacted on Sunday at various times for a response, Mr. Umahi’s known phone number was busy. The same phone number was used to send a text message as well.
However, the minister had not yet replied at the time this article was filed.
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