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The Lagos State Government frown at the destruction of N7bn worth of groins along the Lagos coastline at the Mayegun Waterfront Scheme near Eko Atlantic City.
Groins are rock like substance or concrete, used for the prevention or reduction of beach erosion.
They are built perpendicular to the shoreline to trap sand carried along the coast by waves and currents to creat a stable environment.
It was gathered that the cargo vessel destroyed the groins after the vessel offloaded petroleum products at the Apapa port.
In a statement on Monday, the Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Yacoob Alebiosu, said it was a sad occurrence, going by the amount spent by the state to construct the groins.
Alebiosu said the state had been battling to preserve and protect coastline communities from extinction by using groins.
He said, “While the state is working on this, we won’t allow our existing infrastructure along the waterfront corridor to be damaged, potentially due to negligence.”
He noted that the ministry would summon the company, adding that further investigations were ongoing to uncover the real cause of the accident.
According to the statement, the Technical Superintendent attached to the vessel, Fidelis Ilok, disclosed to newsmen that the accident happened while the crew was asleep.
“The ship was anchored to the seabed. The 12-man crew was sleeping when the anchor broke, and the massive wave began to push the vessel up and down.
It was total confusion until the groins at the shore stopped the vessel. The incident occurred after we had offloaded the petroleum products and anchored,” Ilok explained.
The commissioner further that, “Protecting our coastal areas has been very challenging for us in Lagos. We have invested billions in constructing these groins. Some of our communities are already ravaged by coastal erosion. The groin destroyed by the company in Mayegun cost us N7bn.
“Okunde, Idotun, Origanrigan, Olomowewe, Itoke, Asoroko, Igbekodo, and Akodo Ise are communities still pleading for our attention. They need groins to save their communities."
