‘Find masked men that demolished our buildings’ - Residents to Ambode

Residents of Lagoon View Estate, Ibeshe, Ikorodu, Lagos State, have lamented alleged illegal demolition of houses on the estate by masked men numbering about 60.

The residents asked Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to unmask the perpetrators and bring them to justice, saying the houses were demolished without any reason or litigation.

They said the demolition was carried out on August 16, 2017, adding that property worth over N500m was pulled down by the masked men comprising security operatives in uniform and suspected thugs.

The lawyer for the residents, Akin Duduyemi of Josiah Chambers Incorporating, Akin Duduyemi & Co., in a petition to Ambode, dated August 22, 2017, said some of the building owners had obtained Certificates of Occupancy with approvals, adding that some others were processing their Certificates of Occupancy with full payment made.

The petition read in part, “However, on Wednesday, August 16, 2017, after majority of our clients had left for their places of works and business, a team of men and officers who claimed to be from the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development stormed our clients’ estate with 36 armed policemen and strong army of thugs and hoodlums.

“All the vehicles (the officials came in) were deliberately unmarked to conceal the culprits identities in the course of carrying out the illegal demolition in the name of the Lagos State Government, whereas they were actually acting at the prompting and instigation of an individual who financed the illegal demolition… without any formal notice and or hearing of our client or people in lawful occupation thereof.”

The lawyer urged Ambode to intervene and fish out those responsible for the demolition.

He noted that the men were tools in the hands of a land speculator, who hid under the state government to grab land belonging to other persons.

To drive home their grievances, the residents stormed the Governor’s Office in Alausa on Wednesday, calling on the governor to help them.

They displayed placards, some of which read, ‘Governor Ambode, save us from land grabbers,’ ‘Ministry of Physical Planning: a tool for land grabbing,’ and ‘Give us justice to retrieve our land,’ among others.

Spokesman for the residents, Mr. Victor Haastrup, said a large number of Lagoon View Estate residents had been sleeping in the open at night because they had nowhere to go.

He said, “We are appealing to Governor Akinwumi Ambode to intervene and unmask the perpetrators who pulled down our structures without considering the hardship they caused.”

Some officials from the office of Civic Engagement, who declined to be identified, collected the protesters’ petition, saying they would make sure that the governor got it.

They added that a panel would be set up to investigate the matter.