Lagos to demolish 17 ‘distressed’ buildings at Alaba market

The Lagos government says it will demolish 17 “distressed” buildings being used for commercial purposes within the Alaba international market in Ojo LGA of the state.

Gbolahan Oki, general manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), announced the planned demolition during an assessment visit to the market, on Friday.

Oki said the visit offered the agency the opportunity to issue final warnings to occupants of the buildings marked for demolition.

The general manager said some of the buildings had been marked with quit notice since 2016, adding that occupants usually harass officials of the agency whenever they want to carry out their duties.

“These buildings marked within this Alaba international market would have been included in the list of 349 distressed buildings earlier published in different national newspapers this year,” he was quoted in a statement by Adetayo Akitoye-Asagba, the agency’s assistant director of public affairs.

“But because the occupants were always harassing our officers, it was impossible to capture the details of the structures and include them in the publication.

“What we have done now is a joint exercise carried out by both the Lagos Task Force officers and the demolition gang of Lagos State Building Control Agency. The buildings will be demolished.

“We know that this area is a commercial centre and one of the busiest markets in Lagos state.

“We cannot fold our arms and allow irregularities to continue to thrive in the market where lives of innocent persons would be put at risk because of the failure of a few sets of individuals who have refused to do the needful.”

In March, the Lagos government released a publication showing the locations of 349 “distressed” buildings in the state.