Residents of the Federal Low Cost Housing Estate, Abesan, Ipaja in Lagos have petitioned Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola and Lagos State Governor Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu over an alleged encroachment of their land by Mosan-Okunola Local Council Development Area.
The petition, signed by their lawyer, OB Omoniyi, a Principal Counsel at Jide Omoniyi Chambers, accused the council of working with some individuals to dismantle the water tank put in place by the ministry to serve the community.
The water tank, the residents said, is two million metric tons built within the estate by the Federal Government in 1983 to serve the allottees/residents of the estate.
They said the council has sealed off the land where the water tank is situated, thereby preventing the residents from accessing it.
Omoniyi said: “We are of the firm opinion the said water tank, being a Federal Government asset, can be dealt with only by the authorisation of the minister or his designated officers, which in this case is not Mosan-Okunola LCDA, or any private individual.
It is in the light of the foregoing that we call on the Minister to urgently intervene in this matter with a view to calling the Mosan-Okunola LCDA to order, and to impress upon the council the consequences of unlawful interference with a Federal Government asset.
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“Our client has in the meantime been able to douse the anger of the residents of the estate, who are the rightful beneficiaries of the water tank; but the urgent and decisive intervention of the Ministry of Works and Housing is crucially required to resolve the matter to avoid a needless conflict between the LCDA and the residents, whose interests are now being subjugated by the unlawful actions of the council.”.
The Chairman of the estate’s Community Development Association (CDA), Adewale Adepoju said the tank has been supplying water to the estate for over 30 years.
He said some people had wanted to encroach on the place but the association resisted them.
He alleged that the council wanted to build shops on the land, but “we told them that it’s not possible because the land does not belong to the council. It belongs to the Federal Government. We, the allottees, are stakeholders managing the place for over 30 years. The council should vacate the sealing order.”