The Lagos State Special Offences Mobile Court, on Wednesday, remanded two construction workers in Badagry Correctional Centre for contravening provisions of the state’s Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law.
The mobile court, siting in Eti-Osa Local Government, remanded an engineer and a foreman till June 6, for allegedly breaking government seal to continue construction.
The duo had requested for a stand down for their lawyers to arrive in court before their plea would be taken.
The court rose thrice, and thereafter, said it could wait no longer, and remanded them till June 6, when the lawyers did not arrive.
Five others arrested are in the Lagos State Task Force custody awaiting trial, because they were apprehended after the mobile court had closed.
All the suspects were arrested on various construction sites in Eti-Osa Local Government when the enforcement team of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) embarked on surveillance.
The LASBCA officials were led by Mr Olaopa Olusoji, Director, Enforcement and Mr Adeolu Odugbemi, Director Legal Services.
Earlier, the team resealed three sites at Ilasan New Road, Oniru, and six in other parts of the council.
Speaking on the exercise, General Manager, LASBCA, Mr Gbolahan Oki told journalists that the exercise would be continuous across the state.
Oki said this was to curb the excesses of recalcitrant developers and property owners undermining authority of the state government.
He said the agency had to take proactive measures of going to through the mobile court because of increasing lawlessness turning Eti-osa gradually into a slum.
He said the enforcement would be extended to all five divisions to ensure people build according to specification.
“A building that is supervised stands the test of time.
“Before now, what we do is to serve all the necessary notices to people developing and property owners, but we found out that despite the fact that we serve them and we stop them from working, they still continue to work without building plan and permit, which is an illegal thing.
“We found out that they are the same set of people that send people to harass government staff and because of this we started with the issue of toking the buildings so that they will comply, but because they are stubborn, they still go ahead to continue construction.
“We decided to adopt this strategy, and we thought that the best thing for us to do is to go through the normal procedure of charging them to court and prosecuting them,” he said.