For Ayo Folarin, being a landlord at Kelani Olaniyi Street, Toga-Zanmu, Badagry, Lagos, has brought more hardship than comfort for him and his family.
Mr Folarin, 55, lives with his wife and five children at Toga-Zanmu village in Badagry, “in what he called an escape from tenancy and killing house rents of Lagos.”
Mr Folarin said building his house at Toga-Zanmu has been one of his greatest achievements. This excitement has, however, been marred by the citing of a telecom mast behind his house, causing him distress.
“When the generator powering the mast is on, my house vibrates non-stop. The smoke of the generator enters the house, this is causing health problems for my family.
“My wife is unable to sleep in the house, her mind is never at rest, two of my young children have developed high blood pressure,” Mr Folarin lamented.
Mr Folarin told PREMIUM TIMES that his children – aged eight and 12 – have been diagnosed with high blood pressure. He did not provide proof but said they were told at the hospital.
Background
Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) Nigeria erected a telecom mast at Kelani Olaniyi Street, Toga-Zanmu, Badagry, in 2008.
Now managed by IHS Nigeria, a telecom infrastructure service provider company, the mast with Site Identity Number LG 3200 was erected a few metres away from Mr Folarin’s house.
“I moved to my house in 2006, because it is a new site, only few houses were around, I had only two neighbours then. There was another piece of land directly behind me and it was used as MTN site. At first, we didn’t know their plan for that place, we only saw building materials on the land and they started work later,” he said.
