Lagos defends Trade Fair demolition, denies ethnic targeting
Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Olumide Oluyinka, made the clarification on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, following criticisms that the exercise was discriminatory.
“That is not true. We have been to Owode Onirin, Idumota, and Ikeja. It has no ethnic correlation. The fact is that we just have to do our work. There is nothing ethnic here; it is purely technical,” he said.
He explained that several buildings inside the complex were constructed without statutory approvals, some in violation of basic safety standards.
“There has been a series of enforcement carried out on Lagos Island,” he added. “I personally led a team that even touched the palace of a white cap chief. This is Nigeria for all of us.
“The facts are clear; when you are in a place, you must live by the law of that place. It is as simple as that,” Oluyinka added.
The commissioner stressed that defaulters were given ample time to regularise their structures before the demolitions began, adding that government officials had faced harassment while serving notices.
