The protesters expressed deep concerns over the potential negative impacts of the diversion in their community, they called on President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to investigate the diversion plans.
Residents of the Okun Ajah community in Lagos State on Thursday gathered in front of the Federal Ministry of Works headquarters to protest the proposed diversion of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
The protesters expressed deep concerns over the potential negative impacts of the diversion in their community, they called on President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to investigate the diversion plans.
Despite heavy rainfall, members of the community gathered to protest what they see as preferential treatment by Minister of Works, David Umahi.
The protesters marched with placards and chanted various slogans conveying different messages such as, “Illegal construction on the right of way should not be encouraged” and “You promised us renewed hope; don’t punish us."
The protesters insisted on following the initial road path set in 2006.
Some other placards read, “Lagos State has a master plan”; “Honourable Minister, no ethnic sentiment”; and “Keep to your words; You promised us renewed hope”; among several others.
The protesters disclosed that the minister promised the residents on national television that the old gazetted alignment of 2006 would be taken into consideration.
While speaking to newsmen during the protest, the Akogun of Okun Ajah, Saeed Olukosi, described the planned road diversion in Okun Ajah alone as a miscarriage of justice.
According to him, “Already, the houses that were built on the coastal road alignment had been identified and marked for demolition.
“But surprisingly, some days ago, the construction workers diverted to an entirely new area and started marking houses.
“We are shocked that the moneybags who violated the law by building illegally had gone to bribe some workers, and they left illegal buildings and diverted to our buildings, which we legally built.”
He explained that the protest was necessary because Tinubu and the presidency may not have been aware of this latest development, hence, the protest at the ministry.
“We understand that the presidency may not be aware of the illegality. That’s why we have come to notify them of these peaceful protests at the Federal Ministry of Work office in Lagos.
“The minister promised us to do the needful and administer justice. Let him investigate what we are saying and give us justice. This administration promised us renewed hope, so he should give us hope and not punish us,” Olukosi said.
At the same time, Bolanle Olugbani, the counsel representing the town's residents, stated, “We are here to protest the planned diversion in the right way.
“He (Umahi) assured us that the Federal Government would adhere to the old gazetted alignment.
“For over 30 years now, everyone buying land at Okun Ajah Community knows that a coastal road will pass through the community at some point in the future.”
Olugbani said that they had conformed to the law, but some moneybags bought the property from the designated coastal road alignment.
“Lagos State had gazetted not to build on a coastal road; the minister is not above the law.
“The law today says the old alignment is where the coastal road should pass. The minister also said it at the stakeholder meeting.
“No amount of money and tribal sentiment should sway in. The minister knows what to do. The minister must not change from the old alignment,” he maintained.
However, Mrs. Olukorede Kesha, the Federal Comptroller of Works in Lagos, reassured the protesters that the minister was prepared to address their grievances when she met with them.
She stated, “The minister has demonstrated several times that he is a listening person, and the government is also listening. The minister is not afraid to come to Lagos to see you again.”
“In fact, I have told him about you. He was in Lagos last Saturday, and he wanted me to call you on Sunday, but because of the Sallah festival, I told him you people would not come out and that we have to respect that day, and he said, ‘Okay.'”
According to her, “I told him you are complaining and he promised to come back in a week, and I will invite you to bear your mind to him. He doesn’t look down on people; it’s impossible to please everyone.”
“Nobody is saying justice should not be done. Whenever he comes, tell him what you want, and he will go back to the drawing board.”
Mrs. Maimuna Usman-Ologunro, a landlady in the town, expressed her views, “We all heard him at the stakeholder meeting, where he said that the road would pass through the gazetted alignment.
“Why did his men come back to our community to mark our buildings, which are not built on the coastal road alignment?”
“The minister should be a man of his word. He cannot continue to take us from one post to another; we have an alignment. We have the 2006 alignment during the regime of President Bola Tinubu when he was governor of the state.”
“We bought our land and have our documents intact. I cannot lose my property for another person’s offences. We knew already that something was ongoing; that was why we are all here,” she added.
SaharaReporters had earlier reported that President Tinubu in May flagged off the construction of the 700km Lagos-Calabar coastal road project, describing it as a “bold endeavour."