The Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) has sealed the zonal headquarters of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) under construction in Ajegunle area of the state.
The agency also sealed a hotel in Ikeja, the state capital, as well as six other buildings over alleged illegal development of structures and for breaking government seal.
It was gathered that the church had broken government’s seal on several occasions after it was served stop-work notices and the massive three-storey structure sealed.
The general manager of LASBCA, Engr. Olalekan Shodeinde, was said to have led the operation.
More than 11 workers found at the site when LASBCA officials visited were arrested and arraigned at the mobile court, which sat in Ebute Meta area of Lagos at the weekend. They were sent to jail for not being able to perfect their bail conditions after their trial.
Four other buildings on Old Ojo Road and Agboju were also sealed for the same offence and the labourers found on the sites were arrested.
A shopping centre in Ajeromi, which has already reached the third floor, without approval, was also sealed. It was gathered that the structure had been sealed several times, with the shop owners breaking government seals; two people were arrested in the process.
The hotel in the Opebi area of Ikeja was sealed for converting a residential apartment without getting government approval.
Shodeinde told newsmen that all properties sealed had been sealed for up to four times in the past, but their owners always broke government’s seal to continue their illegal development. The general manager, who lamented that the RCCG had been sealed several times, added that the church always removed the seal to pave way for its illegal development, thereby ignoring LASBCA’s seal order.
He said: “This year, we will come hard on defaulters who remove our seals. We will prosecute anybody found on site. Once a building contravenes (the law), anybody found on it will be arrested and prosecuted. To unseal a sealed site is a criminal offence and the penalty is N500,000.”
The mobile court, he said, was brought along during the enforcement so that culprits would be tried immediately and punished for their offences. He added that it was no longer going to be business as usual for building law defaulters in the state.
|Sun
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