The aerial view is not enticing but the expenses incurred by occupants of the 138 shanties erected around Ajao estate canal as rent indicated the cost of living.
Against the aerial view, tenants in each room paid N100,000 as rent annually to the alleged landowner who caved out the canal bank to operate the community illegally in Ajao estate.
Occupants of the structures alleged that they pay annually to the alleged landowner before being allowed to erect the shanties along the canal, an area prohibited by the state government.
To stop the illegal operation, the state government has pulled down the structures and dislodged the occupants to protect lives and ensure the canal functions as designed.
The government through its Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) popularly known as KAI stated that the move to remove the illegal occupants was in continuation of its zero tolerance for environmental infractions and illegal encampment in public spaces.
The KAI Corps Marshal, Major Olaniyi Cole (retd) disclosed this on Thursday after the demolition exercise in the state.
According to him, ‘‘Our intelligence sources identified the humongous infractions across the Ajao Estate Canal banks stretching several metres where people were living illegally in shanties and paid rents between 60,000 to 100,000 Naira to a particular syndicate and this made us activate our enforcement teams for a total dislodgement’’.
Cole expressed dismay at the brazen level of disregard for public health and safety due to the clustered illegal encampment, citing the development as a catalyst for the spread of communicable diseases, sexual violence, and social issues resulting from the accommodation of miscreants in such hidden areas.
The Corps Marshal reiterated the Agency’s commitment to upholding the THEMES+ agenda of Mr. Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu which seeks to make Lagos cleaner and habitable for business, a mandate that KAI exhausts all resources on a daily to achieve in the State.
The KAI boss, meanwhile, admonished Lagosians to desist from patronizing illegal public encampments as he affirmed that many infractions will be identified and demolitions will be activated in due course.
