Ikota County Homes Protests Shady Dealings by Developer, Urge Lagos Govt to Intervene
- Residents and homeowners of Ikota county in Eti-Osa Lekki-Epe Expressway have accused their developer of shady dealings
- The residents say the developer is contributing to the rising insecurity in the estate by bringing in artisans who occupy buildings
- They ask the Lagos State government to intervene and call the recalcitrant developer to order
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Residents of Ikota county and the owners' association, located along Eti-Osa Lekki-Epe Expressway in Lagos, have protested against what they described as the arrogance and lack of respect for their rights, opinions, feelings of the homeowners and residents by the management of the Lekki county management company.
The residents and homeowners who staged a peaceful protest in the estate on Saturday, February 18, 023, called on the Lekki County management company to provide quality services and be accountable to the residents.
Source: Facebook
Homeowners protest with placards
Reports say the homeowners revealed that they have never seen the audited reports and records of the management company also carried placards with various inscriptions such as, "Stop the lies"; "don't harbour criminals,"; "no more thugs"; "give us our documents"; "give us stable water supply."
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Briefing journalists during a peaceful protest at the main gate of the Ikota County Estate, the Chairman of the Ikota residents and owners association, Ndubusi Okaro, disclosed that the level of insecurity which has led to the agitation and fear of the residents was a result of a large number of artisans brought to the area by the developer.
Residents accuse developer of underhand dealings
He explained that the developer also breached their contractual obligations towards the residents, stressing that the developer has allowed his interest to override the legitimate interest of the homeowners.
Okaro expressed concern that some artisans now sleep in uncompleted buildings, thereby increasing theft of valuables and insecurity and fear among residents.
Okaro said:
"The residents are here today because we demand accountability from the management company. Since the second quarter of 2022, they have refused to provide the quarterly statement of account to the residents association. We fund the management company for services. We demand that you cannot take money from residents and not account for it," he said.
He also disclosed that the level of unrest and cases of stealing in the area had been reported to the police. He stressed that legal actions had also been taken against the management and developers, who continue to impose unwanted and unwarranted policies and measures against the homeowners.
He further revealed that some residents, who are not members of the association, go about soliciting help and making monetary transactions on behalf of the homeowners and residents association.
Speaking about the measures the Lagos state government could take to break the monopoly of the management company, a former chairman of the association, Sukanmi Olowo, asked them to look into the excesses of the estate's management company.
He said:
"Lagos State Government has a law that artisans cannot stay in uncompleted buildings. Some of the security challenges we face are the artisans living with us and every attempt to eject them. The developer and management company have yet to be cooperative.
"If the artisans can come here and go home after their daily work, it would improve the security problem we face in the estate. We also seek the government's support to help us look into this matter and find a long-lasting solution," he added.
Homeowners move to take action against theft
In the same vein, the residents, therefore, called for the support of other homeowners in the estate to help financially to get an excellent legal team, to prosecute all those accused of stealing or involved in other misconduct in the estate, and to curb the excesses of the developer and management company.
During the peaceful protest, the residents unanimously agreed to sack the current security company guarding the estate, which the management company employed.
They insisted that they were terminating the contract of the estate security company because the developer single-handedly decided to employ them without prior consultation of the Lekki County Home Owners and Residents Association.
New Airport in Lekki and other large investments that could make Lagos West Africa's biggest economy
Legit.ng earlier reported that Lagos State, Nigeria’s melting point, is said to be one of the largest economies in West Africa, almost twice the size of the economies of Togo, the Benin Republic and the Niger Republic.
It is the microcosm of Nigeria, has the biggest Gross Domestic Product (GPD) in the country with $91 billion, and earns far more than any other state from internally generated revenue (IGR).
Lagos also leads other states as the highest indebted in the country. Data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) states that the external debt of Lagos is over $1 billion.
Source: Legit.ng
