By Philip Nwosu
Residents of Muhammadu Buhari Estate, along the Lagos Badagry Expressway, have protested the erection of telecommunication mast within the vicinity of the estate and called on the government and well meaning Nigerians to take action and save them from the dangers it posed.
The residents alleged that the owners of the estate may not have done a proper environmental impact assessment before erecting the mast.
“They want to kill us, they are in sensitive to our plight here, and they are not considering us and our health here. We do not want this mast in our estate; it is hazardous to our health.”
Speaking through their attorney ALEX AFOLALU & CO, the resident in a petition to the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Nigeria Police Cooperative, said Remaxrealtors, contravened the established laws and regulations and has failed to comply with essential legal requirements, including, but not limited to failure to obtain: BTS Permit.
They pointed out that as stipulated by telecommunications regulations, the erection of a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) requires a valid permit, which Remaxrealtors failed to acquire before initiating the construction process among others.
Efforts to reach Remaxrealtors failed, as called to their office failed to go through, but Daily Sun got in contact with the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC).
Its director, Public Affairs, Mr. Reuben Muoka, said: “There are companies Licensed for erection of telecommunications masks and these companies cannot erect masts or towers without doing environmental impact analysis. The mast can only be erected only when it is supervised and approved. He said the main concern for the supervision is to ensure that they are properly installed/erected to avoid falling thereby damaging buildings or killing people.
“If the issue has been brought to the Commission, definitely we will go there to check if the installation was done properly and if all the requirements were met. In a case where it is done properly, we will ask for it to be removed.”