By Oluwatoyin Adegoke
The recent demolition of a five-storey plaza, belonging to Yeye Olufunke, the wife of a former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel by the State government has continued to generate reactions.
Residents of Folagbade in Ijebu-Ode local government area of the state had raised the alarm over the demolition exercise reported to have begun around 3 a.m. in the early hours of today Sunday,10th, September.
Reacting to the incident, the Project Manager and Developer for the building, Mr Olusegun Lawal claimed that the building, which had been under construction since 2009, had the full approval of the state government and was scheduled for commissioning by the end of this month.
The Developer who described the demolition as shocking and heinous act, maintained that the necessary due process and protocol required for such construction projects by the relevant state government establishments were followed to the letter.
In response, the State government, through a statement by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr Olayiwola Abiodun described the structure as an illegal edifice, without any approved plan.
The government alleged that the project was in violation of the state building codes and physical planning laws, claiming that several efforts made by the state government to halt further development on site, in view of the numerous defects, were ignored by the developers
The statement pointed out that government’s decision to partially pull down the defective building was proactive to prevent building disaster as the owners were served the necessary notices, including abatement, contravention, stop work and demolition between May and October 2022, which were ignored.
It explained that the action was inevitable because the Zonal Town Planning Office had observed during routine monitoring that the construction on site did not conform with the plan granted as there was a deviation from the airspaces and setback, while the building had been modified and enlarged with an additional storey building at the back thereby becoming over density.
Subscribe to our Telegram and YouTube Channels also join our Whatsapp Update Group
pub-5160901092443552
