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The Lagos State Government has closed down unauthorised reclamation sites and issued a stop-work directive to those currently reclaiming and narrowing parts of the Ikota River near Partibons Homes Estate and Bee-Forth Estate Phase II off Orchid Road in the Lekki region of the state.
In a statement shared on its official X platform on Monday, the government said that this enforcement action followed an inspection conducted by the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, over the weekend.
Wahab described the illegal reclamation actions as “heart-wrenching” and said that some individuals have intentionally chosen to harm the natural ecosystem.
He clarified that the ministry had received an SOS notification suggesting that certain people were aggressively reclaiming areas of the Ikota River and constructing unauthorised buildings to sell them to unsuspecting buyers.
The Commissioner pointed out that some dishonest individuals had obstructed stormwater channels, specifically systems 156 and 157, which are meant to discharge into the Ikota River and into the lagoon beyond that.
“There’s no way flash flooding can be completely stopped in a coastal state like Lagos, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, lagoons, and rivers. What we can do is mitigate it through resilient infrastructure and sustainable approaches,” Wahab said.
He warned that human interference with these natural systems exacerbates flooding and emphasised that the state government will not sit idly by while the actions of a few jeopardise the safety of many.
Wahab also observed the ongoing restoration efforts of the right-of-way along the Ikota River alignment at Oral Estate II, where 17 unauthorised structures had already been taken down. This activity is part of the preparations for the upcoming Green Rail Line project planned for the area.
He noted that the rail line, planned to run from Marina to Epe, will be developed in stages, with the initial phase covering the route from Lekki First Tollgate to Epe and the subsequent phase extending from Marina via the waterways, and is anticipated to take around two to three years to finish.
