The Youth Forum of the Lekki Coastal Community Development Association (LCAA) has threatened to send firms away from the Lagos Free Trade Zone (LFTZ) if the state government continued to renege on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it signed with the host communities.

It accused the government of not abiding by the agreement it signed with them. It warned that should this continue, it would send the companies packing and put the multimillion projects under threat.

“If the government through the Judiciary, the last hope of man, cannot put in place instruments of equitable dissemination of justice by obeying the dictates of our collective agreement (MoU), we may be left with no other option than to claim our land by shutting down the Lekki Free Trade Zone since we cannot access the land given to us legally by the Lagos State Government. We hereby urge our amiable governor to intervene swiftly so as to pave the way for a peaceful and serene business environment at Lekki Free Trade Zone,” it said.

At a briefing in Tiye, Lekki recently, the youth leader Salami Yussuff recalled that on March 27, 2007, the government signed the deal with representatives of the 12 host communities, namely: Tiye, Imobido, Ilege, Idasho, Magbon Segun, Okesegun, Iloke, llako-Alasia, Okunraye and Olomowewe; lbeju-Lekki Local Government Area and World Investment Limited (LWIL) to, among others, “to hold the minimum fully paid up equity shareholding of 2.5 per cent in the holdings of LWIL.”

Also as part of the agreement, the youth leader claimed, the government was expected to grant certificates of occupancy for 750 hectares of land. But instead it only gave for 375 hectares. Again, new communities – Oshiroko, Origanrigan, and Lekki – were added to the fold. Worse still, the youth body lamented, it discovered that of the 375 hectares, 318 had been sold illegally by the communities.

Yussuff alleged that while their parent body made efforts to settle the matter, including ratifying the sold land to allow peace reign, the government did nothing. He pointed fingers at some members of the Sanwo-Olu administration for thwarting the efforts of the governor who sent the state Surveyor-General to audit the land, saying they were working against the interest of the government. (The Nation)

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