The Lagos State Government on Sunday commenced the demolition of 17 distressed structures at Alaba Market in the Ojo area of the state.
This is according to the General Manager of Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Arc. Gbolahan Oki, who spoke on Friday during an assessment of the buildings already earmarked for demolition.
At the event, the LASBCA boss also issued final warnings and notices to the occupants of the affected structures.
“The marked inscriptions from LASBCA seen on different parts of the buildings that were looking physically distressed had vacation notices as far back as 2016, 2020, 2022, and several others issued to this year, 2023,” the Lagos State Government wrote in a post on its website.
“Oki, who decried the rate of harassment meted out to officials of the agency at different times in the past, said that seven years’ notification was enough for the occupants of the buildings marked for demolition to have vacated the structures and comply with the notices issued by LASBCA and other government agencies.”
“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 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,” he said.
“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 would be demolished”.
“We know that this area is a commercial centre and one of the busiest markets in Lagos State but despite this, we cannot fold our arms and allow irregularities to continue to thrive in the market where the lives of innocent persons would be put at risk because of the failure of a few set of individuals who have refused to do the needful,” Oki added.
But owners of the structures say they have no place to go.
The Alaba Market is famous for the sales of electronic devices and other items.
