Residents of the Magodo GRA Phase II Estate in Lagos, on Thursday, sent a Save Our Souls message to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, over “the invasion of the estate and the threat to their safety and security due to incessant forceful access by unauthorised persons to the wetlands around the estate.”
The residents disclosed that land speculators and developers allegedly aided by top officials in government decided on building on the wetland and they were bent on making an incursion therein through Magodo Phase II.
They noted that the plan was a direct threat to the environment, safety and security of the community.
The Magodo GRA Phase II Estate Residents Association made the appeal to Sanwo-Olu during a press conference addressed by its Chairman, Sheriff Daramola, in the company of the Board of Trustees, Central Consultative Council, Central Management Council, executive members and residents of the estate.
Daramola implored the Lagos State Government to shelve any plan to build link roads to the wetland through Magodo Phase II Estate but instead construct a road from the Otedola underpass, which is currently free of development and unencumbered.
He said, “We commend Governor Sanwo-Olu for his unwavering support and commitment to his promises not to allow access through the wetlands from Magodo Phase II in our tripartite meeting in the past and in his support to ensure continuous peace in our Magodo Phase II community and Lagos State as a whole.
“Mr. Governor, sir, we have those that are warming up to distort and destroy the peace and harmony we enjoy in Magodo Phase II; to add to the security concerns on the estate and Lagos, by forcefully planning to access the wetland through Magodo Phase II despite alternative routes listed outside Magodo Phase II. Accessing the wetland through Magodo Phase II shall create further damage and shall be colossal.”
Speaking during the press conference, a former commissioner, Francisco Abosede, who is a resident in the estate, said the wetland, among other ecological benefits, served as a natural storm collector and flood control container for all stormwater from Agidingbi, Ikeja, Ogba, Alausa, as it had also shielded Magodo from soil erosion, flooding and flood-related diseases and disasters over the decades.
