The Lagos State Government has announced the commencement of enforcement activities on Monday, March 11, 2024, in Apapa, to reinstate the three-metre Right of Way for drainage channels.
Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, made this announcement after a site inspection that assessed compliance with previous notices to defaulting property owners to adjust fences encroaching on the drainage Right of Way.
This is according to a statement on the state government’s website.
“We want to check the state of collectors in Apapa to evacuate and treat the Collectors, the whole of the Collectors in this area are blocked and the right of way taken over by individuals who moved their fences to acquire extra land thereby denying us access to the drains,” Wahab said.
The Commissioner stressed that the Lagos State Government is committed to addressing the persistent flooding issues in Apapa.
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To this end, he directed enforcement officers to ensure the removal of all properties violating the drainage right of way, adhering to the legal requirement of a three-meter clearance.
Wahab assured that the enforcement process would be impartial, with no properties being exempted.
Earlier this year, the Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources served contravention notices to the buildings on the drainage setbacks in Apapa.
The encroachment on the drainage in Apapa had made it impossible for the state government to maintain the eight major drainage collectors in the area for several years.
The contravention notice informed the defaulting property owners whose fences were encroaching on the drainage to voluntarily adjust their fences in line with the three-meter setback physical planning standard or face demolition upon expiration of the notice.