Community leaders of Akute, Baale Akin-Osin and Oke-Aro communities in Ifo Local Government Areas of Ogun State have appealed to the Ogun and Lagos State governments over a seven-day demolition ultimatum issued to landlords and occupants of 60,000 houses.
Buildings including mosques, churches and public schools within the Water Pipeline area are to go.
Elders of the areas says the shock from the sudden notice by the Ogun State Urban and Regional Planning Board has led to deaths of two landlords.
Several others have taken ill, they said.
At a press conference held yesterday in Akute by the joint Community Development Councils (CDCs), the leaders said they are not against the Adiyan Water Project by the Lagos and Ogun State governments.
A leader, Alhaji Ganiyu Busari, however said they want the government agency to reconsider the measure of the specified area to be demolished.
“Rather than the expansive 50-metre set-back, this could conveniently be reduced to 20 metres “set-back,” so that less houses would be affected,” he said.
“We wish to intimate the government that most of the affected house owners are aged and retirees who have no steady means of livelihood.
“Pulling down their homes will further aggravate their predicament. We also wish to call the attention of the government to the fact that any meaningful project should be people-driven.”
They added that accepting the 20 metres setback ensures effective synergy of the government water project as houses marked for demolition do not by any means constitute obstruction to the project.
Community elders noted that most of the 50-metre expanse shall be reserved for machinery and equipment during construction work which, thereafter, may be abandoned, making it a hideout for hoodlums and social miscreants who constitute a burden for the law enforcement agents and threat to peace in the communities.
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