Agege demolitions: Again, traders pay price of development

In the past months, some parts of Lagos State have witnessed massive demolition of structures in an excercise which, according to the state government, is being carried out primarily to give room for necessary infrastructure in certain parts of the state.

For example, within weeks of each other, the Owonifaari and Mosafejo markets, both in Oshodi, were demolished. This was many months ago and traders in both markets had a hectic time saving their wares from ferocious bulldozers, especially traders at the Owonifaari Market whose demolition, it will be recalled, was carried out in the night.

Also known to have succumbed to the ferociousness of the state’s bulldozers was a popular bus park at Ikeja, as well as numerous shops and buildings at the Abule Egba area, which were demolished to give way for the much-celebrated Abule Egba flyover.

But the latest of the demolitions was the one carried out earlier this week in the popular and highly-populated Agege, which has also been linked to the construction of a flyover that is expected to be situated at the Pen Cinema area of the rustic community.

Long before the demolitions were carried out there, many buildings and structures, especially those closest to the main road, had been marked in red with the word “ROW,” an upward pointing arrow and a figure (all done in red) conspicuously written on the walls of all identified buildings.

For example, a building which has an arrow and “40m” marked on it, meant such a building had encroached on the Right of Way (RoW) by 40 metres, and would be expected to be pushed back by the same margin. Naturally, this could only be done through demolition.

Many traders and business owners as well as residents were unprepared when the bulldozers arrived on Monday, 11 December. Many of them struggled to save their wares from the fangs of the bulldozers on the fateful day.

Even a statue of Oba Ogunji which was standing in the centre of an ever-busy roundabout at Pen Cinema was not spared. It had been carefully removed several days earlier. The statue’s removal was expected to have been seen by the affected traders as a sign of what to come.

Saturday Tribune paid a visit to the scenes of the Agege-Pen Cinema demolitions, hours after it got wind of the development and found rubbles on a site that had held bank offices, shops, kiosks and canteens only a few hours earlier. Also affected was a popular pharmacy known as Boluke, as well as an ATM centre belonging to a new generation bank.

Security operatives were, however, on hand to maintain law and order and help control traffic on the affected roads. At the site were two bulldozers that were being used to carry out the demolition.

Seen in the rubbles were different kinds of households items including cooking stoves, crates of soft drinks, pieces of cloths, among others.

In the evening of the demolition day, Saturday Tribune noticed that some residents and business owners whose buildings hadn’t been demolished yet, but which had also been marked, already making arrangements on how to apparently minimise the loss they would incur on their property when they were eventually brought down.

For instance, the management of a bank had noticeably hired the services of menial jobbers who were seen expertly removing and, where necessary, cutting down house accessories such as glass, metals and wood which would have otherwise been demolished alongside the rest of the building.

Similarly, workers of another building which was the closest to the railway lines and which had, for years, served as a major depot of household items such as plastic warmers/coolers, utensil and plastic chairs, were also seen making frantic efforts to get all their wares out of harm’s way.

Meanwhile, following the demolition of many buildings, scavengers swung into action, as they were seen scouting for metals, wood and any other item that could be of value to them. Street urchins, popularly known as “Area Boys”, also used the occasion to make quick money as they were spotted taking over many of the demolished sites where they oversaw the selling of metals and wood to scrap scavengers.

We’ve lost our livelihoods —Traders

Expectedly, affected traders and other business operators as well as residents whose residences were demolished have been counting their losses, with some saying they were still at a loss on what their next lines of actions would be.

One of them however unequivocally confirmed to Saturday Tribune that every affected shop owner had much earlier been served quit notice by the state government.

Also speaking, one of those affected by the demolition exercise, Mrs Akinsanya Ope, lamented the fact that as a result of the demolition, she had lost a major source of income, especially bearing in mind the fact that she had retired from the civil service.

“I invested a large chunk of my pension in setting up the shop that was among those demolished. I don’t know what to do for now. This government promised to be a government for all classes of people, but with this latest action, I can say that promise was a ruse,” she noted.

Also, another trader who was simply identified as Ola, said sadly, many of the affected traders had just renewed their tenancy only days earlier.

“I just renewed my tenancy. How do I get my money back, when it even seems the landlord already knew what was going to happen, but deliberately tricked me into renewing my tenancy,” Ola lamented.

One of the market leaders, Alhaja Balkis Alimi, also bemoaned the fact that not even the slightest hope of any possible compensation by the government had been given to them.

“This is totally unfair. We all got our shops at the market without having any knowledge that we were moving into a ‘troubled’ spot. Why are we always treated like a group of nobodies by the governments we vote into power,” she remarked.

“The demolition exercise lasted for just a few hours but the effects, for some people, may last a life time.

“Look at what I have been reduced to. I used to have a well-stocked shop where I sold things and I was making money to make ends meet. But now look at what I have been reduced to,” she said with a sigh.

Also lamenting his loss, another trader, who simply gave his identity as Chidi, said it was saddening that the government could be indirectly discouraging resourcefulness of its youths who had decided to shun social vices and, instead, engage in fruitful ventures.

“As a young man, I have never been lazy in my life, neither have I have ever embraced any social vice. But when the legitimate source of livelihood of a young man is abruptly brought to an end in this manner, is this not an invitation to a life of crime?” he asked.

Compensations will be paid appropriately –Govt

The demolition exercise was confirmed by the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr Abiola Anifowoshe, who however stressed that the government would pay compensations appropriately to property owners with necessary documents.

The commissioner further pointed out that the government had, in recent time, held stakeholders’ meetings with owners of properties that had to give way for the construction of the affected areas and had given assurance of adequate compensation.

Anifowoshe said, “Before we remove any structure in Lagos State, the state government would first hold stakeholders’ meeting with the affected property owners within their domain to obtain their buy-in and commitment towards the projects.

“The government has held meetings in all these locations and during these meetings allayed stakeholders’ fears and assured them that the administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode would not remove any structure without following due process”.

Anifowoshe said officials of the state Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development had marked all identified structures that fall within the proposed Right of Way (RoW) in these locations and have served all affected structures with necessary notices.

“We are removing these encumbrances to pave way for the infrastructural upgrade and the socio-economic growth of the State.

The commissioner said, “I urged all affected property owners to submit the following documents for the ease of processing the payment of compensation by the state government. The documents include: Certified Registered Title Documents of Properties within the said Right of Way, Approved Planning Permit for the affected buildings and other relevant documents”.

Anifowoshe’s comments seemed to be in tandem with earlier remarks by his counterpart and Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Steve Ayorinde, when addressing questions that bordered on the ongoing spate of demolitions in the state.

Ayorinde had given the indication that all demolitions which had been carried out in the state and which would still be carried out, were all in the best interest of Lagos State.

According to him, the government is not embarking on vindictive demolition of markets, but rather, it is doing this to create a better Lagos.