The South-West Zone of the Federal Housing Authority has said that occupants of houses marked for demolition at the Festac Phase 2 area of Lagos State had violated the rules.

The FHA expressed dissatisfaction that the occupants had continued to erect structures without abiding by the order.

It noted that the authority had notified the occupants of government’s readiness to demolish houses and structures in the area in August 2023.

While addressing the media on Friday, the Zonal Managing Director of FHA, South-West Zone, Hakeem Olagbemiro, said these houses were illegally acquired and were being developed by unregistered developers.

He said, “A lot of illegality has gone up in that place, and I mean an illegal development. And we are looking at how best we can solve this and ensure people live in a serene environment. We want to ensure that we do our part by making people live in quality houses for them to live in.

“Unfortunately, we have had a series of issues of illegal estate developers, illegal people selling lands, people who claimed they owned the place and we have litigation from many angles.”

During a visit to the area where houses were marked for demolition, the Zonal Deputy General Manager of Urban and Regional Planning, Francesca Michael-James, said it was high time the organisation started pulling down houses marked for demolition.

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