Flooding: Ogun to demolish illegal structures

TRACKING >The Ogun Government is planning to embark on state-wide demolition of buildings constructed on erosion channels, water ways, river banks, and other flood-prone areas.

Mr Nafiu Adebiyi, the Permanent Secretary in the state’s Ministry of Urban and Physical Planning, made the announcement during the on-going enumeration of houses built on waterways on Saturday.

He said the purpose of the enumeration was to identify houses that had contravened urban planning laws in the state.

According to reports by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Adebiyi warned that constructing houses close to river banks or waterways could endanger people’s lives, noting that sanctions would be imposed on those contravening building laws.

“All derelict buildings and those built on water ways will be demolished.

“We don’t want people to bring disaster upon themselves that is why we ask them to vacate such buildings so that we can bring them down to avoid calamity,” he said.

Explaining the demolition procedure, Adebiyi said that contravention notices would first be served on occupants of the buildings before the buildings would be pulled down.