LEDAP asks court to stop Eko Atlantic City building project

(Nigeria) Legal Defence and Assistance Project, LEDAP, a civil society group,  has asked a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, to stop the on-going dredging of the Atlantic Ocean and building construction on the Eko Atlantic City by the Lagos State Government and private investors because of the destructive impact of the project on the aquatic life in the entire Nigerian territorial waters and the environment of the coastal communities.

The Eko Atlantic City, largely owned by a consortium of foreign companies, involved deep dredging of the Atlantic Ocean and construction of high-rising commercial and residential buildings on the recovered shores of Bar Beach, Kuramo beach and Victoria Island Lagos.

In the suit, LEDAP, told the court that it wss informed that the construction companies of the Eko Atlantic City did not undertake any approved Environmental Impact Assessment as required by law, as there was no plan to ensure that the dredging of the ocean will not over flood coastal environment and the rural communities along the banks of the ocean.

The Federal Ministry of Environment, which is also joined as a defendant in the case, according to LEDAP did not authorise the project because it had not issued the statutory Environmental Impact Statement approving the dredging and building construction as required by the Environmental Impact Assessment Act 1992.

According to the plaintiff, “Under the Act, any person undertaking a project that will have impact on the environment is required to undertake detailed field assessment of the negative impact of the project on the environment, and in consultation with the affected communities, develop plans on how to ameliorate and solve the environmental problems.

“The dredging of the ocean and construction of buildings on the reclaimed land under the Eko Atlantic City will not only flood the coastal areas in coming years, but will destroy aquatic life in the entire Nigerian territorial waters of the ocean including fishes and animals, thereby negatively affecting the rich ecosystem of the ocean, the Lagoon and adjourning rivers, swamps and wetland of the country.

“Most of the rural fishing communities who depend on the ocean and surrounding waters for livelihood will be utterly displaced and impoverished,” it added.

The suit was filed after series of unsuccessful requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2011 by LEDAP on Lagos State Government and South Energy Limited, the lead owner of the Eko Atlantic City, for details of environmental impact assessment conducted before embarking on the project.

LEDAP is further asking the court to declare that it was unlawful for the Atlantic City Project to be undertaken without an approved environmental impact assessment as required by the Environmental Impact Assessment Act 1992.

The plaintiff is asking the court to restrain the continued construction of the project until properly approved environmental impact assessment is conducted, through consultation with the coastal communities as required by law.

LEDAP also praying the court to order that the Lagos State government and the South Energy Limited adequately resettle all the communities on the coastal banks of the ocean that are already affected or likely to be affected by the dredging of the Atlantic Ocean and the construction of the Eko Atlantic City.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.