Lagos — The Lagos State government yesterday afternoon sealed off 1004 Flats, Victoria Island, over unpaid land use charges by the management of the blocks of flats.
Residents and visitors to the estate were unable to drive into the complex during the period.
One resident was quoted as saying that she was unable to leave her flat since the lock down.
Vanguard gathered that the shutting down of the premises by the state government through the Ministry of Finance was done after several appeal to the owners of the property in the estate.
Confirming the incident, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Aderemi Ibirogba said that the owners of the structures in the estate defaulted in performing their obligation, which is paying their taxes into the coffers of the state government.
The commissioner did not state the amount owed by the owners of the property in the estate, but said that the levy is a yearly due which every property owner in the state is expected to pay into the coffers of the state government.
According to him: "What we did was to serve as warning to others who may wish to default in remitting the fund into the coffers of the government.
"We wouldn't have embarked on such action if the owners of the structures voluntarily complied with the remittance of the Land Use charge.
However, the government was said to have relaxed the seal later yesterday evening.
The deal reached with management around 5.20 p.m. could not be ascertained as at the time of filing this update.
The two gates allowing traffic in and out of the estate were then opened.
1004 Estate is the largest single luxury high-rise estate in Sub Saharan Africa and comprises over 1004 flats, maisonettes, studio apartment on Lagos Island.
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