The management of Lagos Water Corporation (LWC) has expressed concern over alleged intimidation and harassment of its staff by some residents of Dolphin Estate Ikoyi, led by former Senator Sunday Olawale Fajinmi.
Fajinmi is the Chairman of Dolphin Estate Residents Association.
A statement issued by the Managing Director, Lagos Water Corporation, Mr. Muminu Adekunle Badmus, on Thursday stated that residents of the Estate have continually harassed workers of the Corporation thereby preventing them and contractors from carrying out their official duties.
According to the statement, LWC recently received a report of burst water mains and a team of engineers was promptly dispatched to carry out repairs, but were prevented and held hostage by security personnel allegedly on the instruction of the Chairman of the Residents Association. It took the intervention of top management staff of LWC to secure the release of the staff.
“In a similar incident, LWC staff and contractors who visited the Estate to sensitize the residents on the installation and use of prepaid meters, as well as the need to reduce water wastage, were equally sent away after their tools, materials and some pre-paid meters were seized by security details and hired social miscreants”, the statement said.
Badmus also stated that on Friday, November 17, 2017, LWC and IBS Consultancy staff, while embarking on an enumeration exercise for the purpose of obtaining accurate data of the customers were arrested, their operational vehicles seized and all efforts to resolve the issue were flagrantly rebuffed by the former Senator.
He pledged the commitment of the LWC to ensure that every household in the State has access to potable water in conformity with Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s mandate, adding that no amount of intimidation will deter the Corporation from achieving the set objectives.
He said that LWC will not fold its arms and allow some residents thwart government efforts at providing essential services and warned the general public, particularly the group in Dolphin Estate to desist from further harassment of the staff of the Corporation or face the full wrath of the law.
