'What we built in 6 years was destroyed in 6 hours' — Landmark counts losses

Landmark Africa, owner and operator of the Landmark Beach Resort, has started counting its losses following the demolition exercise embarked upon by the Federal Government for the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.

On Monday, April 29, 2024, the Minister of Works, David Umahi, supervised the demolition of some structures sitting along the coastline, which the Federal Government claimed Right of Way (ROW), to clear the path for the road project.

Among the structures affected were a part of the Landmark Beach, the cabanas, the football turf, and many others that were pulled down.

The Breeze Beach Club, located at the centre was also pulled down.

ALSO READ: Landmark Beach Demolition: 5 reasons FG shouldn’t have done it

Landmark rues demolition

Meanwhile, reacting to the development in a social media post, Landmark Africa lamented how an investment that took six years to build has been pulled down in just six hours.

"What a journey! What we built in 6 years was destroyed in 6 hours 💔 💔" the post partly read.

However, the company thanked Nigerians who have shown concern and support throughout the struggle and promised to emerge from the ordeal stronger.

"We are overwhelmed at the show of support we have received from Landmark Citizens and all our partners. Thank you, for standing with us and believing in our mission and cause so far.

This is not the end! 💪🏽," it added.

ALSO READ: 'Misplaced priorities': Peter Obi tackles Tinubu over Lagos-Calabar Highway project

Umahi reneged on earlier promise

While defending the demolition, Umahi insisted that the action was necessary considering the Landmark centre was located on the Federal Government's ROW.

However, the demolition was a renege on the earlier assurance given by the minister that the design of the coastal highway project would only affect a few shanties, while “permanent structures” would be left intact.

This followed the plea by the owner of Landmark, Paul Onwuanibe, that the Federal Government should revert the construction of the coastal road to its original alignment before it was moved to the beachfront path.

Onwuanibe argued that the original plan will not only save businesses that will be destroyed due to the revised plan but also save the government money and manpower.

“The original alignment of the coastal road was Water Corporation Road. I mean, you had the picture on your screen, and it showed quite clearly the Water Corporation Road, the two feeder lanes, and then the medium that was meant to house it.

“Then there’s Landmark, and there’s the beach, and there’s the sea. The alignment was changed from Water Corporation Road… so instead of it running on the land side of Landmark, it’s going to run on the beach side of Landmark,” he said in an interview.