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By Christopher Oji
Residents of Natufe Anomashawun, Bode Thomas, Suru-Lere, Lagos Mainland, at the weekend, took to the streets to protest against the planned construction of a cemetery on the street.
The aggrieved residents of the street, neighbouring communities and other sympathisers described the plan to build a cemetery in a densely populated but waterlogged area as a wicked and organized plan to exterminate residents.
The protesting residents have, therefore, sent a save-our-souls to the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu as a matter of urgency to come to their rescue and prevent total extermination of residents.
The placard-carrying protesters, with inscriptions such as: “Save us from untimely death”, “Cemetery doesn’t meet civilization, civilization meets cemetery”, “Keep our neighborhood safe”, “No cemetery, we reject it in residential area”, “Cemetery is synonymous with rituals and kidnapping”, “Respect our opinion*, and “Stop devaluing our property”, want the governor to come to their rescue immediately as construction work has commenced.
Chairperson of Natufe Anomashawun Community Development Association (CDA), Alhaja Omolabake Aminat Braimoh, said they were out to protest the construction of a cemetery in a residential area.
“We heard the developer wants to build an adult cemetery here and one for children about three blocks away. We do not want it. Look around you, this is a residential neighbourhood. We have children and elderly people here. We have schools, churches and estates here too. “Locating a cemetery will pollute our land. We are not using pipe-borne water. Our source of water is borehole, which a cemetery will pollute.”
Asked what steps have been taken by the CDA, aside from the protest, she said letters have been written and sent to the chairman of Coker-Aguda LCDA, adding that more letters would be sent to relevant agencies of government to stop the developer.
She said the battle to stop the location of the cemetery in the densely populated but waterlogged area Egan in 2020.
“The former governors of the state stopped the idea and condemned the plan. The present governor still didn’t support the idea, as he assured us that the plan would not work. But we were surprised that we were called last Monday and that we were going to have a meeting at Bamboo Hall, Eko Club. I said the notice was short, pleading that they should reschedule the meeting, but they said the meeting must be held. So, the government held the meeting with arranged people from Orile, Shitta, Mushin, Amukoko claiming that 60% of us had agreed that the cemetery must be located on the spot. We didn’t agree at all. So this is why this protest is again very important.”
The 78- year-old woman emphasized that, “The residents say capital no to cemetery in a residential area. It is risky to do so. We have schools, businesses and residential houses at the centre of a cemetery. It won’t work. The place is waterlogged. Once the rain falls, it would exhume all the corpses and you know the after effects. There will be an epidemic of the highest magnitude.
“Second, we don’t have pipe-borne water here. So, we drink water from boreholes. Our water will be contaminated. That is why we are appealing to our governor to come to their rescue and stop the evil plan of building a cemetery in a residential area.”
“On her part, Mrs. Yinka Iluyomade, was of the conviction that some senior government officials have been bribed to have disobeyed the Governor, who had stopped the cemetery project in a residential area: “While in a meeting with the government officials, a senior official was warning that if we don’t comply with the the plan to site the cemetery, they would revoke our C of O.
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‘“What wicked talk and intimidation. One of them was saying, ‘if you don’t take care, we can revoke your C of O, full planning, approval, we can close down the school.
“The government officials were trying to compare the type of cemetery to the one in Maryland, USA, but that is comparing death with sleep.
“Once there is a cemetery in Nigeria, kidnapping, armed robbery, all vices that you can think of will start happening there. And, apart from death, there will be devaluation on the properties, no safety. Look at this place, it’s waterlogged. When it rains, the flood will start breaking down houses; we are surrounded by canals. We have no good roads, no potable water.
“The cemetery that they want to give us, we don’t want a cemetery. We want better things, which are not dead yet; that is why we say No Cemetery.”
Another speaker, Devlin Chigbo, was of the opinion that siting of cemetery in a residential area was associated with evil, for instance, he said, “Cemetery will contaminate our borehole and our water one way or the other. It will encourage ritual activities in the area and environment and the community. It will encourage kidnapping and disappearance of people in the community. Even an adult can be kidnapped. When these people, you know, when you talk of ritual activities and all that, by the time they contact all their buyers or their people that patronize them and all that, they go for human hunts. They can carry anybody. Anybody can be a victim.it is life-threatening to people who move at night.
“Those of us that go for night enjoyment can be targets of criminals that will be lurking around the cemetery. You can be kidnapped and all that.
“We should understand the psychological and emotional trauma a cemetery causes to people, especially children and women who would see dead bodies every day. Moreso, economic activities will go down and every business that is within this area will go down drastically and there will be devaluation of properties. All the properties here and all that we do will go down. That is why we are appealing to our governor to come to our rescue”.
A family member of a landowner in the area, Femi Animashawun, said, “This complete area is known on the historical map as Animashawun. I’m not aware any Animashawun family members have given consent for siting a cemetery here. And neither am I aware of anybody in the vicinity giving his or her consent. Now, as the USA and all that bullcrap that they come with, nowhere in the world, not just the USA, are cemeteries developed within urban communities. It is usually on the outskirts that a cemetery is located. And development may then grow towards the cemetery. Also, any cemetery anywhere immediately will destroy property values.
“We’re talking a minimum of 60%, not even 50.
It will drop 60%. Why would anybody want to reduce the property value where they live? This is fraudulent and we will not accept it.”
Secretary to the CDA, Olumide Ekuniyi, said residents would resist the idea of locating a cemetery in the area, as it is a well orchestrated arrangement to send people to their early graves and devalue their properties: “We have businesses, including schools. We have religious homes. How can our children be bold enough to pass through the cemetery? Besides the calamity that will happen to businesses, how about the health hazard implications? This place is waterlogged, we know what we go through each time it rains. The health hazard will be too devastating. Our boreholes will be contaminated and the casualty will be too devastating and colossal. There is no way we will compromise on this issue. We are in trouble, but the governor can save us from this dangerous venture. Thousands of residents can’t suffer because of the wicked venture of a businessman.
“Let the governor act fast and stop the plan to construct a cemetery in a residential area. Successive governments had stopped the plan, even the present government did so, but some unscrupulous government officials gave the approval to the businessman. Sir, they can’t disobey you and go Scot free. Call them to order and take up the investigation and bring those who gave the approval to justice”.
Meanwhile, residents have vowed to continue with their protest until the government comes to their rescue.
