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Agony, Confusion as LABSCA demolishes rows of shops in Lagos community

Published

2 years ago

August 25, 2023

62 Views

Residents of Laurel School Cross, inside the Bungalow Estate axis, in the Jakande Estate area of Isolo Local Government Area, Lagos State, are counting their losses after task force officials from the Lagos State Building Control Agency demolished rows of lockup shops in their community.

Many of the affected residents, who are mostly petty traders, narrated that their sad ordeal started in the early Wednesday afternoon when dozens of LASBCA task force officials, alongside armed security officers, arrived with chainsaws and sledgehammers to demolish shops and community spaces.

Arriving at the scene on Thursday morning, many of the traders appeared traumatised as they tried to salvage some of their goods and other valuables from the debris.

Some of the traders alleged that they received no prior demolition notice from the government, while a copy of LABSCA’s demolition notice posted on their website was sighted.

The notice said that owners/developers of identified structures are given a seven-day notice to demolish the structure, and that failure to do so will result in a LABSCA taskforce clampdown

The notice read partly, “UNDERLISTED Distressed Structures in the State shall be removed by Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) having served all the statutory enforcement notices in consonance with the Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning and Development (Amendment) Law of 2019 and with no response from the respective Owner/Developer.

“Following the above, a final notice is hereby given that if the under-listed distressed structures are not removed within seven days (7) of this notice by their respective Owners/Developers in line with regulatory provision of the law, such Structure shall be removed.”

However, many of the affected victims who complained , claimed that they did not get any Demolition Notice from the agency.

One of the affected residents, simply identified as Mrs John, tearfully lamented how her source of livelihood was reduced to rubbles within a few minutes.

She said, “I’m shocked at how these people (LASBCA and security officers) came in their numbers and suddenly started demolishing our shops. They did not give us any notice. They came here, marked our building, started removing all our goods and began demolishing all the shops here in Laurel Street.”

“I am a widow and we’ve been selling foodstuffs and provisions here for over 10 years. We are law-abiding citizens and have never had any issue with government agencies. But look at how they have treated us, where do I go from here,” Mrs John cried.

Another trader, who pleaded anonymity, also lamented that they never got any notice from LABSCA.

“l never knew the government could be this cruel to the poor. We don’t know what we have done to warrant this sort of treatment.

“I’ve been trading here peacefully for many years, we never got any demolition notice from the Lagos government. So when they came to destroy our shops, we begged them to give us a few days for us to move out our goods, but they said they’ve been given express orders to bring down our shops,” the woman lamented.

Responding to the allegations, LABSCA spokesperson, Mrs. Adetayo Asagba said that the shops were demolished because they were built under electric wires in the estate.

“LABSCA has consistently warned against building structures under high-tension. So the rows of shops were destroyed because they were built under high-tension, and they are all illegal construction,” she said.

“The occupiers in the shops were duly served notices before the demolition began. The last time they were served notices was last week”, Asagba added.

Related Topics:Demolish Shops Featured LABSCA LAgos Community

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ChatGPT to get parental controls after teen’s death

Matthew and Maria Raine argue in a lawsuit filed last week in a California state court that ChatGPT cultivated an intimate relationship with their son Adam over several months in 2024 and 2025 before he took his own life.

Published

3 hours ago

September 3, 2025

OhiBaba

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•ChatGPT logo/ AFP

(AFP) American artificial intelligence firm OpenAI said Tuesday it would add parental controls to its chatbot ChatGPT, a week after an American couple said the system encouraged their teenage son to kill himself.

“Within the next month, parents will be able to… link their account with their teen’s account” and “control how ChatGPT responds to their teen with age-appropriate model behaviour rules”, the generative AI company said in a blog post.

Parents will also receive notifications from ChatGPT “when the system detects their teen is in a moment of acute distress”, OpenAI added.

The lawsuit alleges that in their final conversation on April 11, 2025, ChatGPT helped 16-year-old Adam steal vodka from his parents and provided a technical analysis of a noose he had tied, confirming it “could potentially suspend a human”.

Adam was found dead hours later, having used the same method.“When a person is using ChatGPT it really feels like they’re chatting with something on the other end,” said attorney Melodi Dincer of The Tech Justice Law Project, which helped prepare the legal complaint.

“These are the same features that could lead someone like Adam, over time, to start sharing more and more about their personal lives, and ultimately, to start seeking advice and counsel from this product that basically seems to have all the answers,” Dincer said.

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FG Declares Friday Eid-ul-Mawlid Public Holiday

On behalf of the Federal Government, the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, extended warm greetings to Muslims in Nigeria and worldwide.

Published

5 hours ago

September 3, 2025

OCHEFA

25 Views

•Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo

The Federal Government has declared Friday, September 5, 2025, a public holiday to mark Eid-ul-Mawlid, the birth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Dr Magdalene Ajani.

In the statement, the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, on behalf of the Federal Government, extended warm greetings to Muslims in Nigeria and worldwide.

He urged the Muslim Ummah to emulate the Prophet’s virtues of peace, love, humility, tolerance and compassion, stressing that these values are crucial to building a united and progressive nation.

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Aviation Fraud: NCAA Calls for EFCC Intervention

Published

5 hours ago

September 3, 2025

Charles Flames

24 Views

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to escalate its fight against fraud and economic crimes plaguing the aviation industry.

NCAA Director General, Captain Chris Najomo, made the appeal during a courtesy visit to EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, at the commission’s Abuja headquarters on Tuesday, according to a statement released on the EFCC’s official X handle.

Najomo highlighted how fraudulent activities are severely undermining safety oversight and operational transparency within the sector. He specifically pointed to high-value transactions like aircraft purchases, leasing arrangements, foreign maintenance contracts, and safety infrastructure procurement as areas particularly vulnerable to abuse.

“Non-remittance weakens the NCAA’s ability to fund safety oversight and operational efficiency, and may require EFCC’s intervention to investigate cases where deliberate withholding, diversion, or misappropriation of these funds is suspected,” Najomo stated.

He further alleged that some aviation operators deliberately under-report revenues, manipulate ticketing systems, or divert funds, actions that cripple the NCAA’s regulatory capacity.

Najomo also raised concerns about illegal charter operations disguised as private flights, which involve unregulated financial flows, emphasizing the critical need for the EFCC’s financial intelligence expertise to uncover such practices.

To address these challenges, Najomo proposed collaborative initiatives, including training NCAA personnel to identify financial red flags, organizing joint sensitization workshops, and establishing robust intelligence-sharing mechanisms to enhance regulatory oversight.

Responding, EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede welcomed the partnership and announced that senior EFCC officers would collaborate with the NCAA to finalize a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The agreement will focus on joint investigations, intelligence exchange, and compliance monitoring. “With the kind of work you do, when people see us beside you, they will take you seriously. Aviation is an area where we have seen money laundering, particularly through chartered services.

That is why we have been reaching out to you, and we will continue until we achieve the desired results,” Olukoyede affirmed.