How Lagos government caused damaging flood – Lekki, Ikoyi landlords

Lekki Peninsular, Ikoyi, Victoria Island property owners have blamed Lagos government for perennial flooding in the state.

T​hey accused relevant state agencies of watching while all kinds of structures were erected without adequate sanctions.

​They also demanded government to revert to the master plan of the axis to prevent recurrent flooding.

The citizens under made the call at a news conference on Friday in Lagos.

Mr Segun Ladega, who spoke on behalf of the coalition, said that a number of issues had been identified as the reason behind the annual deluge in the area.

Ladega, architect, said that a distortion of the Lekki drainage master plan and the indiscriminate sand filling of natural waterways and illegal construction of structures on drainages and canals were causes​ of the flood.​

​He said, ​“The inability of the critical ministries: Environment, Waterfront, Land and Physical planning to work together has resulted in infringement and breach of environmental laws by the ministries themselves.

“Poor enforcement of environmental laws and town planning guidelines.

“The sand filling of lagoons and oceans causing coastal erosion and forcing water back to land and the inability of estate developers to improve Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA) reports are the root causes of the perennial flooding.’’

He implored the government to resolve the issues as they were not the result of the indiscriminate dumping of refuse and climate change.

“Lagos State Government should enforce the original drainage master plan. All distortions on the drainage master plan should be reversed.

“And all construction hindering flow of water of water be removed immediately and there should be a restoration of all developments to comply with the Lagos State Environmental laws.

“As tax paying citizens of Lagos State, we ask the government to stop all sand filling activities across the state until the EIA reports are made available.

“Adequate measures must be put in place to inform the public of the emergency plan that will also inform them about the dangers.

“A plan for the rescue of anyone affected, relocation of those whose properties are affected in case of another flood,” Ladega said.

He lamented the damage to infrastructure in the concerned areas, including household utensils and vehicles due to the flooding runs into over a billion Naira.

“The concerned citizens of Lekki Peninsular, Ikoyi and Victoria Island hope that government will act on the issues raised to save lives and properties in the axis,’’ he added.