Lagos-Calabar road: Landowners lament demolition of ‘million-dollar’ properties without notice

Landowners at the Winhomes Estate in the Okun-Ajah community of Lagos state have condemned the demolition of their properties without notice due to the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project.

The landowners said the demolition of their properties was “harsh,”  noting that their buildings were not on the path of the original gazetted route of the road.

Recently, the federal government commenced the construction of the 753-kilometre coastal highway connecting nine states.

The highway will connect Lagos with Cross River, passing through the coastal states of Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom.

The project was awarded to Hitech Construction Company Limited (Hitech), owned by Gilbert Chagoury.

Many Nigerians, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labor Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, have criticised the project over anticipated loss of livelihoods.

TheCable had highlighted the losses and pains of business owners whose facilities have been affected by the project.

‘MILLION-DOLLAR INVESTMENTS WASTED’

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday, Stella Okengwu, the founder of Winhomes Estate, said the failure of the federal government to adhere to the 2006 gazetted route led to the demolition of the properties.

Okengwu said before the land at the Okun-Ajah community was acquired, the necessary documentation was done with the Lagos state government.

“On Thursday, 3rd of October, 2024, I was shocked to discover that HiTech had sent its staff to come and peg our property for demolition without prior notice,” she said.

“I went to brief Mr. Femi Falana, and he put a call through to the minister (David Umah), and the minister promised Mr. Femi Falana that he would come to Lagos the upper week to discuss the issues surrounding the pegging.

“To our astonishment on the 5th of October 2024, the ministry of works officials, accompanied by military personnel and Lagos state taskforce officials, stormed our site and demolished Winhomes property, and also assaulted our personnel on site.

“After which, they proceeded to remove essential building materials worth hundreds of millions, claiming they had order from above to do so.”

She said 70 percent of the homeowners in the estate are Nigerians in the diaspora, adding their huge investments have been destroyed in the demolition.

She added that the incident will not encourage Nigerians in diaspora to invest in the country.

“As diasporan investors, we are not seeking financial compensation of any kind from the government,” she said.

“But rather appeal to the president to mandate the minister of works to revert to the 2006 gazetted alignment as we made sure proper and detailed due diligence was done before this property was purchased.”

Also speaking, Ejiro Owede, a lawyer representing some of the landowners at Okun-Ajah community, said he has been following the development of the estate for some years, noting that the demolition exercise was unfortunate.

Owede said the founder of the estate was able to convince many people to invest in the country, adding that the demolition will negatively impact real estate business.

OLD ALIGNMENT VERSUS NEW ALIGNMENT 

During a stakeholders’ meeting in May, David Umahi, minister of works, said the federal government would revert to the gazetted route within some kilometres of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project to save submarine cables.

Umahi said if the federal government works with the old alignment of the project, 750 houses would be demolished, while the new alignment would take down 490 houses.

The minister said due to concerns raised by the Okun-Ajah community and telecommunication firms, the federal government would divert to the old alignment and return to the new alignment at kilometre 25.