Lagos Assembly to Investigate Coastal Road Deviation in Okun-Ajah
July 23, 2024
Lagos State House of Assembly is set to investigate the diversion of the Lagos – Calabar coastal road in the Okun-Ajah community in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos.
This was disclosed on Tuesday by Hon Femi Saheed, lawmaker representing Kosofe Constituency 2 at the Lagos State House of Assembly during a peaceful protest by Indigenes and residents of the community, who stormed the Lagos State House of Assembly Complex in their hundreds.
The Assembly also assured the aggrieved protesters that their grievance would be critically looked into and ensure that they got justice.
Hon Saheed said: “You are all welcome to the Lagos State House of Assembly This is your house. It is always in our culture to intervene, to intercede, and to stand with the masses. You have genuine cases.
“Lagos State has a master plan. The honourable Minister for Works told you reliably that the earmarked alignment for Coastal Road is going to be maintained. We will still stand by that.
“We are going to make sure that we fight your cause and ensure that justice is served in the right way Be rest assured that the critical stakeholders in your community will be duly invited to come and submit their position and with that we can come to the round table and agree at a position that will favourable to all.
“What we do at the Lagos House is to ensure that we intercede on behalf of the people and the government . We are not going to renege on that now ”
The lawmaker stressed further: I can assure you in the name of the Honourable Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly that you will get justice .”
An indigene and a community leader in Okun Ajah, Yussuf Olatunji, while speaking on behalf of the protestant said ” Our agitation is for the minister of Works to keep to the 2006 coastal road alignment.”
Olatunji added: “In 2006, former governor and now President Bola Ahmed presented us the people of Okun Ajah with a Certificate of Occupancy of the community and there was a gazetted alignment for the coastal road.”
He added: “When the road started now from kilometer 0- 17, they maintained the coastal road alignment in the ongoing construction but from kilometer 17 – 22, which is our community, they deviated from the gazetted alignment without giving any reason.
“At the last stakeholders ‘ meeting at Eko Hotel, the minister for works said it openly during a stakeholders’ meeting that he would return to the 2006 Coastal road alignment but yesterday, they came into the community again and started marking new buildings that are not part of the alignment”, Olatunji said.
He alleged: ” You can see clearly that most of the people, who built on the Coastal road and people from Ebonyi. He is playing ethnicity card with a federal government project in Lagos.”
“Our agitation is that they should carry the Lagos State Government along in the construction of the road. There is a master plan. They should maintain the 2006 alignment .”
The community leader also condemned the intimidation and harassment of residents and house owners by soldiers, who were brought into the community by officials of the Ministry of Works.
Another resident, Alhaja Memunat Ologunro also bemoaned the fate of the hundreds of residents, who would be affected by the deviation from the coastal road alignment of 2006.
She said: “He told all of us at the stakeholders meeting that he is going back to the 2006 old alignment .It is all over the media only for his men to come again and deviated from the alignment .”
Alhaja Ologunro also advised that the minister should save the community by maintaining the 2006 alignment or moving the ocean side as a way of preventing the community from being submerged by the ocean.
Alhaja Ologunro stressed: “This an opportunity to save the community from the ocean by filling the shoreline and constructing the coastal road there. We have been to other countries. Their coastal roads are near the ocean. Why will you bring our own in the middle of the town.”