Lekki Residents Sue Sanwo-Olu, AG, Others Over Illegal Land Allocation
By Benjamin Omoike
Lekki residents under the aegis of the Lekki Estate Residents and Stakeholders Association (LERSA), have threatened to sue the Lagos State Government, Attorney-General of the state and other agencies of the state for allegedly leasing various parts of land earmarked for Lekki-Lagos Coastal Road to churches, event centres and other private developers.
In a pre-action notice dated March 8, 2022, and sent to the state government through the law firm of Edward Group Chambers, LERSA accused the state government of illegally allowing private developers and churches to take over the land earmarked for the Coastal Road.
The notice was also forwarded the Attorney-General of the state, Permanent Secretary, Bureau of Lands and the General Manager, Lagos State New Towns Development Authority (NTDA).
In the pre-action notice, the residents made reference to several letters written to the state government and House of Assembly drawing their attention to illegal structures being erected on the costal road and the failure of the government to stop the illegal developments.
The notice reads: ‘We write as Solicitors to some of – The Developers, the Registered Land Owners, Existing Estates (with Approved Layouts), Lekki-Lagos Residents, Lekki-Lagos Tax Payers, Residents and other Strategic Stakeholders within the Lekki Corridor of Lagos State (herein jointly referred to as “Our Clients”) on whose instruction and behalf we write.
“We refer to all previous written communication, meetings, site visits, text and email messages concerning the above matter.
“While all the above attachment letters, messages and media reports speak for themselves, we wish to inform you, that it is the informed opinion of our clients that a piece or parcel of land that was acquired by any level of Government for – “An overriding public purpose, as contained in the Land Use Act (Coastal Road in this case) cannot be converted or jettisoned for the use of or allocation to a mosque, church, events planners or other private housing or commercial developmental purposes.
“This letter therefore serves as a pre-action notice of our clients’ intention to commence legal action against you, jointly and or severally, via a Writ of Summons or Originating Summons, after 21 days from the date hereof, for the appropriate reliefs and or interpretation / determination of the following questions and reliefs flowing therefrom:
“Whether by virtue of the Land Use Act 1978, the Governor of Lagos State or any of its agencies can temporarily or permanently convert of licence or allocate any portion of the land acquired for the Lekki—Lagos Coastal Road to any church, mosque, events centres, private estate/house developer or for any other purpose, which does not constitute an overriding public purpose.
“Whether by virtue of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999 as Amended), the Governor of Lagos State or any of its agencies can temporarily or permanently convert, licence or allocate any part or portion of the land acquired for the Lekki-Lagos Coastal Road to a church, mosque, events centres, private estate/house developer or for any other purpose that may threaten the lives, privacy and/or quiet enjoyment of properties lawfully acquired by our clients.”
