The Lagos government says it has apprehended two site supervisors and another person for breaching its physical planning permit law.
Abimbola Umeh, the spokeswoman for the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority (LASPPPA), said this in a statement on Tuesday.
The suspects, all male and aged 31, 21 and 53 years, were arrested at No. 5, Eromosele Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, by the authority’s enforcement team and the Lagos task force.
The statement said the suspects were arrested for breaking the government’s seal to continue construction illegally on a sealed property.
LASPPPA general manager Kehinde Osinaike said the trio would be prosecuted for unlawfully breaking the government’s seal, bypassing the restriction to continue construction works without authorisation.
Mr Osinaike explained that the property was served notices and sealed by LASPPPA officials, after which the owner bypassed the seal.
He added that the violators instructed workers to return to the site without visiting the district office of LASPPPA in Ikoyi to start obtaining a permit before continuing construction.
According to him, the arrest will serve as a deterrent to miscreants and others violating Lagos’s physical planning permit laws by removing seals without authorisation.
The LASPPPA general manager stated;
“The state will no longer condone any disregard to town planning laws as this usually results in losses in the long run.”
In another development, LASPPPA said it had re-sealed an illegal petrol station at No. 1, Robinson Gbagi Street, Ajao Estate, during a joint enforcement exercise with officials of Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA).
According to the statement, it was discovered that the filling station’s owner continued construction despite a stop work order and sealing of the site on March 18, 2022, due to non-conformity to physical planning regulations.
It noted that the filling station, which had reached the completion level, would remain sealed until the owner met all necessary provisions of the law.