Hello Friends!
I only have one simple questions to ask is "Why would an Oba go this length to employ self help measures, when there are appropraite Laws in the State with a democratically elected government?
Residents of the Idi-Orogbo, Agunfoye area of Igbogbo/Baiyeku Local Council Development Area of Lagos State on Tuesday trouped to the Government House and the House of Assembly to protest against the demolition of about 15 houses in the community.
They said the demolition carried out on March 26, was ordered by a member of the family from which they bought their lands, Mr. Isau Ogunlana.
Chanting songs of protest and holding placards with pictures of their demolished houses, they called on the state government and members of the House to come to their aid.
A resident, Sikiru Taoreed, who narrated how the incident that rendered him homeless occurred, said his wife’s shop and his four-bedroom house were demolished.
Taoreed said, “At about 5pm when we just saw the earth moving equipment coming towards the community, we saw a lot of thugs wielding different kinds of weapons. They just started demolishing houses in sight. My house was the first to be demolished.
“We couldn’t challenge them. Those who summoned the courage to ask them why they were destroying houses got the beating of their lives.
“I bought my land over 25 years ago and I still have all the documents of the purchase.”
Another resident, Mr. Adefemi Akindele, said the residents thought it was all a joke when they saw some men with thugs and said they wanted to demolish his house.
“Immediately, they started pulling down structures and threatening people with broken bottles, machetes and all sorts of weapons,” Akindele said
Asked if there were problems between the residents and members of the family that sold the land to them, Akindele said, “I know of no controversy. The problem has been among members of the family we bought the land from.
“It is not like they asked us to leave or issued quit notices, which were ignored. Why would anybody even issue quit notices since we bought our land legally? But there was no warning, they just came and started demolishing our houses.”
Akindele said he bought his land seven years ago and built a five-bedroom house on it, which he lost to the demolition.
However, one of the residents, Anthony Jobi, a pastor, told our correspondent that when Ogunlana started making threats that he had decided to repossess the land all the Community Development Associations in the area went to the Oba and complained.
Jobi said, “The Oba gave us two weeks to resolve the issue, but before we knew what was happening, he had brought thugs to the community to demolish our houses.
“We all bought the land from the landowners, the same family Ogunlana came from. But because there is a leadership tussle in the family, he decided to lay claim to our land because he was not the one that sold it to us.
“That is against the law. We bought the land legally. Is it our fault that there was a crisis in the family?
PUNCH Metro learnt that a pastor, identified simply as Mr. Oni, had machete cuts on his head. The residents also alleged that other people were beaten up by the thugs.
A trader, Mrs. Durowoju, said her shop was reduced to rubble.
She said, “I lost goods worth almost N500,000. In fact, I bought the land on which I built the shop for the sum of N500,000 from one of Ogunlana’s brothers.
“When this controversy started and we met with the head of the community, Chief Tajudeen Onasanya, he gave the Ogunlana family two weeks to put their house in order but before the two weeks we were given elapsed, he (Ogunlana) brought a caterpillar into the community to demolish our houses.”
One of the chairmen of the CDAs in the community, Yemi Akinwarin, who is a pastor, said there had been problems between residents of the community and the landowners due to the leadership tussle in the family.
When our correspondent contacted Ogunlana on the phone and identified himself as a journalist, he said the call was barely audible and he disconnected. He did not pick subsequent calls while messages to his phone were not answered.
The Chairman of Igbogbo/Baiyeku LCDA, Mr. Gbenga Basanya, however, told our correspondent on the phone that when he heard that Ogunlana had sent thugs to demolish houses in the community, he notified the police and Ogunlana was subsequently arrested.
The Divisional Police Officer of Igbogbo, Mr. Dare Odundare, also neither picked his calls nor responded to a text message sent to him by our correspondent.
However, the spokesman for the state police command, Mr. Joseph Jaiyeoba, said such a case could not just be settled through mediation.
Jaiyeoba said, “The police will do extensive investigation on the matter unless the residents affected decide not to pursue the matter anymore.
“Even if the state government is involved, we will still ensure that justice is served.”
Last Words: Dear Governor Tunde Fashola (SAN), kindly come to the aid of these people...
Source: The Punch.
xoxo
Simply Cheska...
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