Landlords Appeal to Lagos as LABSCA Officials Allegedly Seal Homes Unlawfully  

Fadekemi Ajakaiye 

Some residents and property owners of Victory Estate in Alimosho LGA of Lagos State have petitioned the State Government, decrying the alleged malicious and unlawful sealing of their houses.

According to them in a petition written on their behalf on their instructions by their solicitor, FELIX Akinnisola Olubodun and Co, they were out on December 3, 2024 and returned home to meet their houses under locks and keys, allegedly by the State Building and Control Agency (LABSCA), stating that between October 4 and 29, 2024, more than three threatening notices were pasted on some selected properties in the community, with the landlords of the affected houses, reaching out to the persons whose phone numbers were written on the notices to inform them that they were already in the process of complying with Government directive on building documentation, aware of the amnesty for property owners to make it possible for them to update their building permits and all other necessities.

Surprisingly, in the words of some of the affected landlords, Engr. Mike Abulatan and Mr. Bodunde Adeyinka, without anyother notice of any form, they returned home from their outings on the day to meet their homes locked up without any lawful justification, stating that it is even more appalling when it’s realised that none of the affected properties is distressed in any form, neither was there any undergoing construction or reconstruction work,  all being wholly completed buildings fully tenanted a long time ago, with the residents aware of the State Government’s demand on property owners to regularise and update their building approvals and other relevant title documents and accordingly working already on them and were at various levels with relevant agencies, claiming that the threats and sealings were limited to some that the LABSCA operators perceived could be extorted and coerced to part with money for them by force, their community under the siege, being deep inside, leaving other communities and buildings behind to move in there in a manner suggestive of a vindictive and malicious enforcement to make it unlawful, vengeful, vindictive, malicious and illegal, realising that the Government amnesty on the programme remains in place till December 31, 2024.

To make it all the more suspicious, Abulatan and Adeyinka said as they got home on the day,they met their situation with the instruction that they meet them at their Boladele, Oshodi office and we inquired why, because we have always met with LABSCA officials at the Alimosho LG Secretariat, that being our LG and leaving them wondering till date why it has to be so this time, asking them to leave their LGA to go to Oshodi/Isolo LG, another LGA to meet them.

They accused the LABSCA officials of constituting themselves as the accuser, judge and executioner without giving them the opportunity to be heard, stating that they are fully convinced that the Government directive on regularisation of property documents is not punitive, but a corrective measure for the good of all neither is it a selective directive to be used to single out some persons for prosecution as in their own case now, appealing that the State Governor, His Excellency, Sanwo-Olu, urgently look into the matter and order the stoppage and discontinuance of the siege on their community as the action of the LABSCA operatives is painting the Government in bad light and in disregard of the renewed hope mantra of the Federal Government, which the Lagos State Government is a strong stakeholder of, and giving the impression by the way the action is contrived as mainly only for the benefit of some self-seeking officers of the agency and not in compliance with Government directive.

On the whole, they called on the Government not to allow the aberration to go without a thorough investigation and reverser of the wrongful actions of the officials, being an administration they have strong faith in as a reliable beacon of Hope, justice, equity and Fairplay, seeing it as unfortunate that they the officials have till now not backpedaled as they are insisting that they meet them at their Oshodi-Isolo office of agency.