Lagos State House of Assembly Adhoc Committee on Housing has urged residents of low cost housing estates whose stalls were demolished by the Building and Investment Company (LBIC) to be calm.
The committee promised to investigate the matter.
The residents petitioned the assembly, alleging that LBIC Managing Director Mrs. Folashade Folivi gave them short notices before the exercise was carried out.
The assembly consequently invited Folivi and raised a seven-man committee headed by the Acting Chairman of the Housing Committee, Ibrahim Layode, to look into the matter.
Speaking with reporters after visiting some of the estates in Amuwo Odofin, Isolo, Abesan and Agege, Layode said there were lots of complaints by the residents.
“We have also seen that some residents have contravened the law by building kiosks and stalls in unapproved places within the estates. We have been asking them why they did this. But we want our people to be calm and be careful with what is happening.
“Also, we went ahead to see the original plans of the estates and we discovered that the LBIC too has changed the plan of the estate with some of the buildings.
“Our governor does not tolerate nonsense and I don’t think he would ask the people to demolish the buildings anyhow. We are here and we can tell you that the Governor knows what is happening and we are going to take actions,” he said.
Layode added: “We will work with the necessary agencies of government to ensure that the right thing is done. The people should be calm and we will ensure that the markets are situated, where they ought to be.
“There is sanity in the estates now, even abroad, people go far within estates to build stalls and malls.”
A member of the committee, Abiodun Tobun, said it was obvious that the people did not follow the rules. But, he added that the LBIC chairman was “inhumane in her approach.”
“We discovered that she demolished the shops without much notice and the people told us that they had been there for a long time. She ought to have informed them properly because we are in a democratic setting, so we need to carry our people along.
“The approach of our government is to involve the people as we believe in inclusive governance. The Governor would not ask her to do what she did,’” he said.
The lawmaker added that the Ministry of Physical Planning should have written to the government and obtained an approval to do such a job. He stated that the matter would be considered to see if LBIC is working within the law.
Amuwo Odofin Housing Estates Residents Association president Chief Joseph Adewale said LBIC management gave them short notice before embarking on the demolition.
Adewale said they met with LBIC on the issue, and appealed that the stalls should not be destroyed.
The structures, he said, were erected with LBIC’s permission.
“They came for inspection and gave us a rate to be paid per structure and we had been paying. But Mrs Folivi came to demolish the structures saying that such things could not be seen in London or America. I told her that even in Manchester there are such structures, cubicles with conveniences.
“I told her that we are not tenants, but owner-occupiers and that we spent our money to provide structures. We said we needed places to relax and for our wards to sell items,” he said.
Adewale went on: “We are aggrieved that is why we have written petitions to the LBIC, Governor’s office and the assembly. People now go far to buy items and they are usually attacked by armed robbers on motorcycles at night.”