The Lagos State government yesterday clarified its position on why it cleared what it maintained were illegal shanties and unwholesome habitations around the Ilado and seafront areas beside Freedom Road, in Lekki, Lagos.
The government said the Environment Ministry’s action was carried out in order to forestall an environmental disaster and another round of deadly skirmishes that led to the razing of the Otodo Gbame community in November 2016.
In a statement signed by the state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, the government said the action was informed by “the over riding public interest to ensure that the waterfront area is free from environmentally injurious and unsanitary habitation few months after it was consumed by fire and rendered uninhabitable.”
The government denied flouting any court judgment as alleged, insisting that it owes a duty to the larger population of the state to ensure that public health and safety was maintained. Read more
