The lake where the crocodile was sighted

Residents of Greenville estate along Badore road in Ajah, Victoria Island, Lagos; have been sighting an errant crocodile roaming free in an artificial lake within the estate. The 990m2 Lake, which appears to have been formed by local subsidence in underlying lithology of the area, had overtime constituted a threat to the estate road along which it is located, as it often overflows and flood the untarred road during the raining season. There are signs of pre-existing construction attempts on the land, marked by relics of uncompleted fence at the middle of the lake.
On Saturday, 5th February, 2011, at about 2:00pm in the afternoon, a resident again sighted crocodile sun-tanning on a small piece of land at the middle of the lake and again called the attention of people around to the situation. It was at this point that Naijatreks got wind of the information and made contact with the eye witness, Mr. Taye (name withheld on request), who again narrated his story of how he was shocked to see a crocodile roaming free in an estate inhabited by hundreds of people. “This poses a great danger to the people living in Green Ville Estate. I have once heard of the presence of the wild animal in the estate but I didn’t believe it until I saw it myself. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I almost thought I was in a zoo or a wild-life park of some sort. I was on my way back home from V.I. when I saw it. The sun was high in the sky, so I guess it came out to sun-tan. Although it is not a very big crocodile, nevertheless, it is wild and it must be speedily evacuated from the premises so as to avert any incidence”.
On a visit to the location, the connection of the lake to a nearby creek on the other side of the estate road gives credence to the possibility of a crocodile gaining access to- and subsisting in the lake habitat. As much as the existence of the crocodile constitutes a menace to human life in the area, it must also be noted that animal is only responding naturally to the threat of human encroachment on its habitat (the nearby creeks). Naijatreks Foundation has taken up the task of seeing to the successful evacuation of the errant crocodile from the lake, by establishing a direct correspondence with Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) on a possible and immediate rescue and transfer of the errant animal to the nearby Lekki Conservation Centre.

The Crocodile Lake

Satellite image of Ajah area of Victoria Island. (Red Circle showing the Crocodile Lake and Red arrow showing near-by lagoon creek as likely source-habitat.

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