Cowrie Creek Estate Residents Lament Upsurge of Shanties  Around Vicinity

Residents of Cowrie Creek Estate, Ikate, Lekki Lagos are worried over the increasing number of shanties springing up around the estate.  

Cowrie Creek Estate, a high-end residential estate, in Ikate, Lagos was conceived in 2007 by Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) Cooperative Society as a private sector-led investment in the real estate sector of Lagos state. 

However, the estate residents are now expressing concerns over the upsurge of makeshift shanties built with plywoods, woods and roofed with a combination of nylons and abandoned vehicle tyres defacing its surroundings, making the environment an eyesore.

The inhabitants of the shanties have also become a major source of security concerns around the estate community.

The shantytowns, at the back of Alia, and one at Caterpillar, by Spar Shopping Mall, in Ikate, Lagos are providing their own amenities like water, toilets, security, bathrooms, fast food joints, restaurants and even pharmacy.

But activities of the thousands of inhabitants across the two shanties, which lack proper drainage facilities have continued to be a source of worry to the Cowrie Creek Estate residents.

During a visit to the shanties by our correspondent, it was discovered that some its residents pay N50 to use toilet facilities while those that cannot afford the fee go to nearby bushes around the vicinity. 

One source within the shanties said residents pay N7,000 monthly to rent makeshift houses built on water platforms;  N20,000 to buy space for building the makeshift houses while outright purchase of completed makeshift houses costs N70,000.

However, the source said the risk is on the buyer of such houses, should the government eventually demolish the structures.

Speaking on the state of the estate neighborhood, one of the the Cowrie Creek Estate residents, Richard Dozie, said the springing up of several ghettoes around the estate has worsened security challenge around the estate.