Mrs Chioma Ekejuiba, a victim of demolition carried out by Lagos State Government in Ajao Estate in Oshodi Isolo Local Government Area, has raised alarm over trauma of her 10 years old son.
She told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday that she was at work when the demolition started and her son salvaged only a few items before the building was pulled down.
Ekejuiba, a tenant, lamented that her house was demolished before she returned from work.
She said her son was traumatised by the incidence and had not been able to stay in school because he could not concentrate.
“I allowed him go to school for the first time today since after the demolition and he came back to tell me that he could not concentrate in school,” she said.
She lamented that she rented and moved into one of the three bedroom apartments three weeks before the demolition.
Ekejuiba alleged that the landlords were confident the houses would never be demolished because each owner paid an annual bribe of N5 million to some government officials.
“This is my house (pointing) but I was not allowed to remove anything from under the rubles, they said everything now belongs to government,” she said.
She said with no where to go, she and her son had been staying in a makeshift stall beside their demolished house.
“I paid N700,000 for rent three weeks ago; today we are homeless. Some people have been coming around to give us bread, food and water.
“This is the dress I wore to work on the day of the demolition, it is the only cloth left for me,” she said.
Speaking with NAN, her son David, said “I cannot concentrate because I keep seeing the bulldozers and our house coming down.”
Another displaced person, Mr Hussaini Abubakar, said he built his house with zinc but was allowed to remove his shelter and property before the demolition.
“I am poor and could not afford the land so I used zinc to build the available space.
“I was told to remove my house and family because the rubbles of the big house beside us would have covered us during demolition,” he said.
Meanwhile, scavengers, scrap dealers and some government officials took advantage of the situation to make quick money.
One of the scrap dealers, Hamisu Ayuba, told NAN that some government officials were in charge of sales of items removed from the rubles.
“The price of zinc, iron rods and other materials are not the same. They take some to their offices and sell others to us,” he said.
A scavenger, Aminu Yauri, said “we are paying for everything, there is someone from LASBCA in charge”.
Responding, an official of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) who pleaded anonymity, told NAN that inhabitants of the demolished houses were allowed to take whatever items they wanted.
The official said the bulldozers waited for some people moving things out of their homes before demolition.
“If you were here the first day of the demolition, you would have seen even those that arrived after the demolition removing some things.
“LASBCA is not selling anything, our assignment was to demolish and we have done that,” the official said.
NAN reports that 12 buildings on I.K. Peters Street in Ajao Estate were demolished for non-compliance with laws regulating physical developments in Lagos State.
The affected properties were built on pipelines and cited in close proximity to Murtala Mohammed International Airport without approvals.
General Manager of LASBCA, Mr Gbolahan Oki, said the residents did not have certificates of occupancy and other relevant documents to warrant construction.
He said Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and LASBCA had served them several eviction notices for over seven years before the actual demolition. (NAN)
