EKO NEWS
Scores Arrested For Illegal Reclamation In Lagos
- Scores of persons have been arrested for illegal reclamation in Lagos.
EKOHOTBLOG reports that the Lagos State Government has arrested no fewer than 24 people engaging in the reclamation of a wetland at Mosafejo Mowo in the Badagry area of the state.
It was gathered that the state government also sealed the premises of a private developer company (name withheld) that was constructing on the wetland.
The Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, in a statement, noted that the raid by security agents and officials from the Department of Conservation and Ecology followed the non-compliance of the company with several stop-work notices served on them.
It further noted that officials of the Ministry observed the series of encroachments during routine monitoring of wetland in the State and on the 1st of March, 2021 a stop-work order was served on the company followed by renewal on two different occasions.
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“A Stop-Work order dated 29th June 2021 was issued and served, but due to the failure of the company to present required approved documents and its refusal to stop work at the site, another Stop-Work order was served on 8th April 2021 and this was followed with messages forwarded to the representatives of the company,” the Ministry stated.
It added that the company responded to the second stop-work order on 5 July 2021 by forwarding a survey plan claiming that the survey plan did not indicate that the site was a wetland, stressing that the land was bought from a third party and that the title document was still being processed.
“Without obtaining the wetland clearance approval, Environmental Impact Assessment (E.I.A), and Drainage clearance approval, the activities at the site are in contravention of the Environmental Management and Protection Law 2017 of Lagos State and National Environmental Impact Assessment Cap E12 LFN 2004,” the statement added.
The Lagos State Government further decried the alarming rate of wetlands loss in the state just as it called for an urgent halt of the indiscriminate destruction of natural habitats, induced by unregulated human activities.
The arrested people, EKOHOTBLOG reports, have been handed over to security agents and will be arraigned after due investigations.
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