Aggrieved residents in the Lekki area of Lagos have threatened to sue the Lagos State Government for allegedly leasing various parts of the land earmarked for the Lekki-Lagos Coastal Road to religious organisations, event centres and private estate developers.
The residents, under the Lekki Estate Residents and Stakeholders Association, in a pre-action notice dated March 8, 2022, sent to the government through their solicitors, Edward Group Chambers, alleged that the state government illegally allowed private developers and a church to take over the land.
In the notice, which was also forwarded to the House of Assembly, the attorney-general of the state, the permanent secretary, Bureau of Land and the general manager, Lagos State New Towns Development Authority, the residents said the coastal land road was acquired by the state government for an ‘overriding public purpose’ from the original owners but was allegedly being allocated illegally to developers for private and commercial building projects.
They also lamented that the various illegal building constructions on the road had made it difficult for them to access their homes.
The notice read in part, “We refer to all previous written communication, meetings, site visits, text and e-mail messages concerning the above matter.
“This letter, therefore, serves as a pre-action notice of our clients’ intention to commence legal action against you, jointly and or severally, via a writ of summons or originating summons, after 21 days from the date hereof, for the appropriate reliefs.” (Punch)