Coastal Road: Landowners Ask Tinubu to Call Umahi to Order

Wale Igbintade

Some residents and landowners in the Okun Ajah area of Lagos State, have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to call the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, to order over the encroachment on their properties by the realignment of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road project.

 Addressing a press conference yesterday, the residents and landowners who had last month, filed separate suits against Umahi, the Ministry of Works, Hi-Tech Construction Company Ltd, Lagos State Governor and Attorney-General of Lagos State, stated that it was unjust for Umahi and his ministry to illegally encroach on their properties under the guise of realignment of the coastal road.

One of the residents who spoke on behalf of others, Alhaji Abimbola Oshilaja, condemned what he described as the brazen attempt by Umahi and the Ministry of Works to forcefully take over their properties which they legally derived their titles from the Lagos State government.

 Oshilaja, noted that he and others like Etisalat Staff Co-operative Multipurpose Society Ltd, and Mr. Olufemi Omoola Fasehun, who had sued the minister, were never issued any notice of revocation of their titles by the Lagos State Government or offered compensation before the Ministry of Works suddenly re-routed the coastal road project to their properties.

Calling for the President’s intervention, Oshilaja said over 400 house owners in the community were living in fear not knowing when the Ministry of Works officials might suddenly pull down their houses.

 “It is disheartening that many of us who have proper titles to our property are the ones being harassed and intimidated with forceful takeover of our properties whereas the powerful people who encroached on the coastal road are being spared. That is a clear injustice. We have taken the matter to court but we are still appealing to Mr. President to come to our aide.”

He insisted that Umahi and his ministry’s action were in breach of Section 28 of the Land Use Act, which requires notice of revocation, hearing, and fair compensation before the government can acquire land from its owner.

 Also speaking on the issue, Mr. Adeyemi Tajudeen, counsel to some of the aggrieved residents and landowners, stated that the minister’s action is a clear abuse of office.

He said: “In 2006, under the hand of then Governor Bola Tinubu now President of Nigeria, an excision was granted to the Okun Ajah community, and a global certificate of occupancy was issued to them under his hand.

“Before this could be done, due process was carried out by the Lagos State Ministry of Urban and Physical Planning that the entire land of Okun did not fall within the coastal road project.

“Subsequently, our clients who had purchased their land from the community have since been enjoying peaceful possession until suddenly when Umahi and his ministry decided to realign the coastal road project to please some powerful individuals who had built and encroached on the original alignment of the coastal road.

“We believe that what Umahi is doing on our clients’ land is in total contravention of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is a total breach of relevant sections of the Land Use Act, particularly Section 28 of the Land Use Act which states that before any land of a Nigerian could be acquired at all, there must be notice of revocation, proper hearing, and the owner of the property must be given a fair hearing.

“We were not even heard. Talk less of giving any fair hearing at all. No notice of revocation and no payment of compensation was offered to any of our clients.

“What the Minister is doing with the realignment of the coastal road is to punish the people who have both equitable rights and legal rights. In fact, what is happening in Okun Ajah is an absolute display of coercive powers by the Minister of Works, Umahi.

“We have filed the necessary action before the court to restrain Umahi, the Ministry of Works, Hi-Tech Construction Company Ltd and other parties from further encroaching on our clients’ Land and we believe that Justice will prevail. We are however using this opportunity to appeal to Mr. President to call Umahi to order.

“It is not too late for Umahi to do the right thing, so we are appealing to Mr. President who we know as an advocate of the rule of law, to prevail on the Minister to do what is right.

“The President is known for the rule of law. And as a result of that, it has become the policy of the Lagos State Government since around 2006, that anybody that buys property on a coastal road alignment, they don’t issue the title.

 “We want to stress further that our clients have their titles to their Properties. I want Mr. President to intervene and save the souls of our clients by telling the honorable minister of work to go back to the original coastal road alignment.”