Residents of Oluwa community, in the Ibeju Lekki Local Government Area of Lagos State, have protested over the demolision of their houses and properties by the Lagos State Environmental Task Force and Special Offences unit.
The residents who claimed to have court judgment over the 358 hectares of land, said they were in shock when some policemen and Task Force officers stormed the area with four excavators to destroy over 50 structures, including houses, shops, among others, worth millions of naira.
The residents, while lamenting over the invasion, said they were not issued a notice for the demolition, adding that people who lost their property had been traumatised over the development.
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A resident in the community, Olawale Yusuf, said his uncle’s property was part of the demolished property, adding that over N300m was expended on the property.
“The property has 72 rooms and it belongs to my uncle. We have spent over N300m on it. We still have some property inside and could not bring them out during the demolition.
“We have not been able to bring the property out after the demolition. My uncle is not in good condition right now. We made our verification before building on this land.”
A property owner, Monday Ajanubor, said he was on a sick bed during the demolition exercise, adding that he was making plans to move into his new house when the demolition happened.
He said;
“Because my rent was about to expire, I was doing everything possible to ensure that I move into my new house on this land. I sold my cars to put the house in order. Now they called me to say that the house I spent all my life savings on has been demolished.”
The head of the community, Nurudeen Oluwa, said the court had issued a warrant of possession to his family following a legal tussle between the family and the state government over the land.
He said;
“We took the state government to court in 2009 when it attempted to take over the land. We knew then that there was no way to lawfully challenge the government other than going to court.
“In 2018, the court delivered judgment in our favour, and the judgment was registered at Alausa.
“Before we moved into the land, they gave us a certificate of warrant of possession. We have been living here since 2018, and members of the family also built their houses here, until the invasion on Thursday.”
An eyewitnesses, Makanjuola Kolawole, said despite all their pleas, insisting that they have court backing on the land, the Task Force chased away all the residents out of the community.
He said those who came for the demolition told him that only the governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, could ask them to stop.
The Baale of the community, Olawale Oluwa, who also spoke on the demolition, lamented the rate of destruction. Adding that beyond the demolition, the thugs who helped the security forces to chase the residents away also looted shops and stole goods worth millions of naira.
Speaking on the demolition, the Executive Secretary, Lagos State Lands Bureau, Lolade Ajetunmobi, said:
“ Lagos State Government has done the needful since the court said that they were not properly served.”
She also refuted claims that the family has documents backing them as owners of the land.
“Let them bring out the documents that showed that they own the land,” she said.
Also, the Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotosho said the land belongs to the Lagos State government, explaining that those people who occupied the land don’t have building permits to claim ownership.
He explained that the government, since 10 years ago, had allocated the land under a scheme ‘Abijo GRA Scheme’ to some people, who now have the Certificate of Occupancy and permit to build on the land.
“Before you build a house in Lagos, you must get a permit from the Ministry of Physical Planning, especially when houses are collapsing.
“It is because they don’t have building permit, that is why they went there to demolish the buildings,” he added.
