By Adeleye Kunle
Residents of OPIC Estate and Greenfield Estate in Ogun State’s Isheri North area have petitioned the state government to reverse what they call “the Estate’s violation of building regulations.”
The residents claimed in their petition to the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development that the alleged violators were making “attempts to defeat and rubbish” the Ministry’s “vision, mission, and policy thrust.”
The residents’ association’s chair, Ayo Balogun, and secretary, Ayoola Oladapo, signed the petition, which stated that there was a “urgent need” to prevent the potential health hazards that the alleged violation poses to the residents.
The Association also claimed that despite several meetings with one Olugbenga Arowolo, he was “frenziedly building a school on Ayo Balogun Avenue instead of a block of residential flats for which State Government approval was granted.”
The petitioners claimed that Arowolo “refused to see reason with the other residents and instead boasted of his connections with Ministry officials.”
Three other people were also charged with violating building codes.
One of them allegedly owns an oven-baked car factory that uses chemicals that “may prove lethal to the health of the residents,” according to the petitioners, while another allegedly is converting a two-story building to accommodate many flats but “without adequate parking space for residents and occupants.”
The residents stated that, despite their approved litigation strategy, they chose to exhaust the petition window in the hope that the alleged violations would be stopped and reversed.
Attempts over several days to obtain Mr. Arowolo’s response to the allegations were futile. He said he was driving and would call back later. He never followed through.
