PROPERTY NEWS

PROPERTY owners affected by the on-going demolition of structures along the route of the Orile Badagry expressway project are up in arms over complaints relating to compensation and their possible relocation to other locations.

A cross section of the aggrieved owners are protesting, for instance, that contrary to claims by government officials that the names of all affected property owners have been compiled and some have been compensated, their own names were not included on the said list.

Speaking under the aegis of 'Orile-Coker Property Owners Association,' the group claimed that some powerful traditional rulers in the area had allegedly "cooked up" the list that was submitted to the committee in charge of the compensation exercise.

According to the spokesperson of the group, Alhaji Saka Atanda, whose house was demolished, at Orile Bus Stop, near the Orile Police Station, the method adopted during the verification exercise before the commencement of the project failed to include some properties.

According to him, some of the beneficiaries which are either banks, hospitals and filling stations located along the axis, that have political clout or have close affiliation with traditional rulers appeared to have been the ones that were favoured.

"Some of us had been in Orile as far back as 1967-68, long before development came to the area. That was the time we were moved from Idumagbo, where we were selling iron rods and scraps," he said, adding that "it was after the civil war that people from eastern part of the country started joining us. Honestly, the criteria used to assess those that are qualified for compensation is not known to many of us."

Another member of the group, Mr. Jibril Alabi, said part of the criteria set by government includes the possession of Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), approved plan and other relevant document. "But what some of us discovered was that some of us had our properties located beyond the approved space. But we think that all the affected properties were located on the Right of Way.

He said almost 67 properties were left out of enumeration for the purpose of compensation.

Speaking in a similar vein, Mr. Cletus Ihechukwu, a building materials dealer at Coker, where the demolition is on-going said the concern of his group is the relocation of the more than 1000 traders to Mowe area of the state, which he said is yet to materialize.

According to Ihechukwu, the agreement the traders had with government was that they would be relocated to the said location, a promise that was reportedly confirmed by a top government official.

Essentially, the argument by the traders, is that the figure of beneficiaries released so far falls short of the number of those that are qualified for compensation.

But to the secretary of the association Olumide Akintayo, who is also acting as the solicitor to the group, the number of affected properties, stretching from Orile to Badagry, is more enormous than what the state government alone could bear in terms of compensation, assuming the owners have the required document on them.

"Although the exercise is not limited to the Orile-Coker axis which we represent, our concern is that in view of the thousands of properties affected and the amount that would be involved for adequate compensation, Lagos should work in collaboration with the Federal Government so that both of them can shoulder the financial involvement."

State officials said last week however, that payment had commenced and no group or individuals with legitimate claims would be left out.

The officials admitted that the procedure for assessment was not easy, because it involved the inputs of various professionals, including the quantity surveyors, architects and others.

During the stakeholders' meeting held recently at the Adeyemi Bero auditorium, Alausa, Governor Raji Fashola assured the affected owners of government's intention to ensure not only pay adequate compensation, but also ensure quick and transparent execution of the exercise.