Lagos State Government Has Issued A Stop Work Order On A Petrol Station Under Construction without Approval Permit To Operate At An Ongoing Site located in Emmanuel Okonne Crescent, New London Estate, Baruwa, AYOBO.
The Stop-Work Order Was Issued On The 1st December 2023 by Officials Of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency ( LASEPA) in a meeting attended by Community Representatives,A legal Counsel with Representatives From The Owner of the Petrol Station Building Project Under Dispute, Alhaji Umar Mohammed Who Coincidentally Owns A Super Market “Attenable Supermarket”.
According to sources within the Community, LASEPA Officials had notified the representatives of Alhaji Umar Via A Document Which was duly appended, Signed and Agreed To Cease From Carrying Out Further Construction Activity On The Said Site As At I0th Of February 2022 due to failure To Obtain Necessary Documents From relevant agencies before embarking on building of the Petrol station thereby contravention of Lagos State Government Building Plan Directive.
It was said that Alhaji Umar Could not give satisfactory Response back to the questions posed by the Officials of LASEPA. A Development Which didn’t go down well. In Similar Event The Representatives Of Emmanuel Okonne Crescent CDA, New London Estate Told LASEPA that Umar at initial told the Community of his intention to expand the Operations of His Supermarket Chain by Building A New Branch in the Axis, But in a sudden twist of events, He was alleged to have secretly brought in Petrol reservoir Underground Tanks On December 31st 2021 To be buried beneath the propoeed supermart site.This plan however was leaked to the community and he was immediately confronted on the strange incident while they Also Alerted the State Environmental Agency in quote ( LASEPA).
A notable gas explosion occurrence which rocked the same Baruwa Neighborhood was revisited by residents adding that these building site of Alhaji Umar which had the construction of A filling station posed as an imminent threat to the lives and properties clustered around the Area. A figure of 20 lives were said to be amongst the Casualties of these Gas inferno while properties worth millions of naira lost and destroyed as a result of the explosion.
While Basking in the Euphoria Of it’s Past Experiences Which The Baruwa Community Is Yet to Get Over The Unfortunate Scenario And The Attendant Cost of It’s Unprecedented Damage, The neighborhood which is prone to impromptu fire related hazards due to the underground passage of refinery pipelines tunnel and that of High Tension Electric Power Transmission Link Cable Line In the Area as noted.
The LASEPA Team However, Ordered Alhaji Umar To Immediately Halt The Building Construction Activities on the troubled spot and wait till the completion of ongoing site inspection to verify if they meet up with the set down requirements needed for approval of the Petrol Station, The inspection is said to be coming up for Tueday The 5th Of December 2023 at precisely 11 am in the morning to Monitor Compliance With The Order. A letter to that Effect was issued by the General Manager Of LASEPA Dr. Babatunde Ajayi.
In the Meantime, Residents of The Community Have Been Enjoined To Turn Out With Their Presence Which is Mandatory When The Authorities Will Be Visiting The Reported Site, While Conveying Their Fears And Concerns With Recourse To the Endangering of lives,Which These Petrol Station Construction might bring inevitable adverse consequences if not nipped in the Bud through Timely Intervention
Ayobo/IpajaTV.com 