Matilda Omonaiye/
Residents of Premier-1 Estate at Lekki area of Lagos cringed in horror early today as officials of Lekki Gardens Estate Limited allegedly launched a dawn attack with thugs on the estate.
The alleged violence and breach of public peace came months after the management of Lekki Gardens was asked to pay about N150million as compensation to victims’ families and the Lagos State government after striking a plea bargain in court for causing the deaths of 34 people in a collapsed building.
NewsmakersNG learnt that some staff of Lekki Gardens Estate Limited led the suspected thugs to break into the Premier-1 Residential Estate in the early hours of today, but the mission was aborted by residents who resisted the armed intruders.
NewsmakersNG also learnt that the incident was a fallout from the long-drawn battle between the developer and the residents’ association on the management of facilities in the estate and the developer’s wilful alteration of the estate layout to the detriment of the residents.
According to an eye witness, the thugs and staff of the property development company arrived the estate by 5.30 am to forcibly create access to the estate’s utility area and the residential area.
The thugs allegedly came with some dangerous weapons with which they had attempted to break in before the residents’ association mobilized members to resist the invasion.
“The thugs claimed that they were engaged by Lekki Gardens Project Manager, Mr Adekanmi Longe and the Chief Engagement Officer, Mr Romeo Akinwande, to break into the estate,” a resident told NewsmakersNG.
Investigations revealed that the developer had insisted on electric power resale to the estate residents and control over the utility area housing the estate generators, sewage treatment plant, estate flood control pumps, and holding tank.
“We have made a criminal complaint to the police against Lekki Gardens and its sister company, Coraxen, for illegal power distribution and resale business. We have made it clear that estate assets should be run by the estate association or their appointed facility management company. These are the issues for which the developer has resulted to violence.” Secretary of Premier-1 Owners and Residents Association (PORA), Dotun Adekambi said.
Adekambi added, “We had written to the police to notify them of the plan by the association to self-manage the estate and we had also written to the developer, who rather than engage with us for a smooth handover, issued us threats and called our bluff.”
The police, it was learnt, visited the estate on Sunday and urged the parties to report by Wednesday for a meeting between the association and the developer, but the developer ignored the police intervention by launching a dawn raid on the estate on Monday.
On the criminal complaints against the developer and its sister company, Coraxen, the association noted that apart from not being under any obligation to purchase electric power from the developer from the estate generators bought with contributions from the homeowners, the association would not encourage a flagrant violation of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act which prohibits anyone except licensed distribution companies, to engage in the sale or distribution of power.
A six-story building at Ikate Elegushi area of Lekki belonging to the developer had collapsed on March 10, 2016, during construction, killing 34 people, including five architects and injuring many others.
To avoid the stigma the incident brought to the Lekki Gardens brand and to shield the company from liabilities, the Managing Director, Mr Richard Nyong allegedly set up new property development companies to advance his business.
The companies are Meridian Park Estate Limited, Horizon Estate Limited, and Foreshore Waters Limited.
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