• Hundreds now homeless as police team demolishes 1,500 houses
A four-month-old baby, said to be sleeping in one of the demolished
buildings, was allegedly crushed during the sudden exercise. Residents
of the area said the policemen from the Area K Command alleged that they
were sent by an unidentified woman, who has since 2006 been harassing
them with policemen and claiming that she bought the land for the
purpose of erecting some police quarters in the area.
Mr. Afolabi Kehinde, Secretary of the Community Development
Association (CDA), maintained that the policemen, who brought the
bulldozers came to attack the wrong communities. He said while the
communities on the letter they brought from the police bore Agemowo and
Agelado, theirs were Mowo Phase 2, Atiporome Extension and Araromi
Extension, adding that the communities were duly registered with the
Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Development. He said they
also made payment for land use charges regularly to the state
authorities.
Narrating what he termed illegal demolition, Afolabi said: “On Sunday, December 15, we got a notice that the Baale of Atiporome had been served with a quit notice, and that we should vacate this place immediately.
“The contents of the letter say that we encroach on the Agemowo and Agelado land but this place is not the name mentioned in the notice. We immediately contacted Hon. Afose, the representative of this constituency and he came to assure us that he would look into the matter. He said that it was a mistake on their part because before now, he had contacted the Land Bureau and the Ministry of Physical Planning on the matter. That was around 2008 when an unidentified woman sent some men to inform us that she had acquired the place to build some police quarters.
“But the day after lawmaker’s visit, we got information that about seven bulldozers had been parked at the Ika Police Station so they could be used to demolish this place. And we rushed to see the DPO of Ika Police Station but we were not allowed to see him. About 7:30 am that day, they started demolishing the houses. As at now, over 1500 houses have been demolished and over 500 people have been rendered homeless. Even as I speak to you, there are many people who have no place to go. Some have been sleeping in churches, mosques and relatives’ houses.
“Those who even have places to go do not have the money to go to those places. And there are many who could not recover anything from their demolished buildings and they don’t even have clothes to wear as I speak to you now.
“The woman who claims to have bought the land has not shown her face. She has been sending people and members of the police to us. They didn’t allow us to make photocopies of the documents they brought; we were only able to write the account number into which she claimed she paid the money for which she bought the land.
When they first came in 2008, the community lawyer intervened and contacted the appropriate bodies on land issues in Lagos. We wrote an SOS letter to the Inspector General of Police, and the state governments to find out who she was but we still don’t know her.
“What is most shocking is the fact that they brought the notice on Sunday morning and on the dawn of the next day, they started the demolition.
“Two human rights activists have visited here and have promised to contact the relevant state agencies to find out what really went wrong.
“The letter that was brought by those who came to demolish this place claimed it was from the police but we have been dialling the number and it has been telling us it was the wrong number. We need to find out if truly the letter came from the police as they claimed. The place they demolished is Mowo Phase 2 and Araromi/Atiporome extensions. The two communities they are talking about are Agemowo and Agelado. And they are communities after ours on the Badagry Expressway.
“Two officials of the Public Complaints Commission in Lagos State have visited us and we have given them all the necessary documents to follow up the matter and they have promised to work on them.”
Alhaji Alao Alapanla, social secretary of the CDA and chairman of the community’s task force said he lost a four-bedroom house worth about N4 million to the demolition. He spoke further: “It is a very sad story. I wasn’t around. I had gone for a show with the popular Fuji singer, Obesere. It was there that I got wind of the demolition. My house was the number one in the area and before I rushed down from Ibadan, it has been reduced to rubble, with all my belongings gone. My house was a four-bedroom flat and it cost over N4million. I bought the land from the Oniroko family, one out of the four different families who jointly own the land. I bought the land since 2006 and I didn’t hear that there was any issue on it until 2009 when they said that an unidentified woman was claiming ownership of it. The family who sold the land to us had teamed up to take the case to court. We even hired Festus Keyamo and one Orisalade and the case have since been in court. The case was being held at the Badagry court until they moved it to the Ikeja High Court because of the renovation work at the Badagry court. It was held for about four times at the Ikeja High Court before they suddenly stopped hearing it. And whenever we called our lawyers to know when the case would come up, they would tell us not to worry and that we would be informed whenever it would come up.
“Our representative at the state level for this constituency tried a lot for us then. He said that the woman’s claims appeared to be fake. But we also heard that the woman obtained a C of O in 2010. That was the time she brought many policemen to harass us and ensure that the survey of the land was done. We know that she comes to harass us every December and our Baale was always telling us not to worry, and that the case was in court. Whenever she came, we would run to the Ministry of Physical Planning, but they would tell us she doesn’t have a legal claim to the place.
“Before the houses were demolished, we called the Inspector General of Police and he referred us to the area commander of Area K but we were not permitted to see the man. Now, the place is demolished. The I.G promised that he would call the area commander when we told him that we couldn’t reach him but while he was saying that, the people have already been demolishing the place. We tried to fight to stop them but the policemen who came with them scared us off with gunshots.”
Another victim, Chief Mayegun, said he might lose his life if nothing was done on the matter quickly. And that isn’t without a reason. His hotel, worth N120 million, was demolished.
“I lost my property worth N120 million. I have a hotel that we have planned to commission formally this Saturday (tomorrow). I have made all the necessary arrangements and even paid half of the performance fees to Fuji star Osupa Saheed who was invited to perform at the opening ceremony. I don’t know where to start from now. I have lost all, including all my life savings and the loans I borrowed. I have to recover the money. I want the House of Assembly and human rights activists to come to our aid. This is injustice and it must be dealt with. I am just taking all this as a man. It is too much; somebody must come to my rescue before I die.
“They obtained a kangaroo judgement in their favour at about 3:30 pm on Friday, and officially court closes at 4pm. It was the kangaroo judgement that they brought to demolish the place. What they even brought to effect the demolition wasn’t a court order or injunction.
“I bought the land from the Ajose family and they gave me all the documents that prove that I have bought the land from them. I have bought the land since 1992, and since then, there have been no issues against it. I have registered the hotel they demolished with the state and was already in the process of getting the C of O for it.”
Another victim, Mr. Onyebuchi Joseph who bought 24 plots of land from the Talabi family in the area said he was almost becoming insane over the demolition. “I have lost over 20 million to the demolition. They have destroyed all I used my money to build. But I promised the perpetrators that that it is not the end of the matter. We will fight back.”
Mrs. Obi Rose, who has been resident in the area for more than five years, said: “I have a house and a school that has 182 pupils. I have organized about 89 women and we staged a peaceful protest to Alausa where we were told that the entire woman was claiming is illegal. I have registered the name of my school with the state. Now they have forced us all out, including our children. We now sleep outside. We went to Area K police command but they chased us back. They were more than 100 and many of them were in police uniforms. They came with bulldozers and armoured vehicles. We learnt that a child that was sleeping in a room inside one of the demolished building was trapped during the evil thing and the child perished there. The baby’s mother is running mad now and her people have come to take her away.
“Many people had their vehicles trapped in the buildings and they didn’t even allow them to remove the vehicles of belongings. They crushed everything.”
Mrs. Ovie, a retired prison warder could not curtail her tears. She wailed profusely as she narrated her story. “All that we have laboured for has gone. All the retirement benefits of my husband and I and our salary arrears amounting to millions were pulled together to build the house and it was a very beautiful house. But they have reduced everything to rubble.
Narrating what he termed illegal demolition, Afolabi said: “On Sunday, December 15, we got a notice that the Baale of Atiporome had been served with a quit notice, and that we should vacate this place immediately.
“The contents of the letter say that we encroach on the Agemowo and Agelado land but this place is not the name mentioned in the notice. We immediately contacted Hon. Afose, the representative of this constituency and he came to assure us that he would look into the matter. He said that it was a mistake on their part because before now, he had contacted the Land Bureau and the Ministry of Physical Planning on the matter. That was around 2008 when an unidentified woman sent some men to inform us that she had acquired the place to build some police quarters.
“But the day after lawmaker’s visit, we got information that about seven bulldozers had been parked at the Ika Police Station so they could be used to demolish this place. And we rushed to see the DPO of Ika Police Station but we were not allowed to see him. About 7:30 am that day, they started demolishing the houses. As at now, over 1500 houses have been demolished and over 500 people have been rendered homeless. Even as I speak to you, there are many people who have no place to go. Some have been sleeping in churches, mosques and relatives’ houses.
“Those who even have places to go do not have the money to go to those places. And there are many who could not recover anything from their demolished buildings and they don’t even have clothes to wear as I speak to you now.
“The woman who claims to have bought the land has not shown her face. She has been sending people and members of the police to us. They didn’t allow us to make photocopies of the documents they brought; we were only able to write the account number into which she claimed she paid the money for which she bought the land.
When they first came in 2008, the community lawyer intervened and contacted the appropriate bodies on land issues in Lagos. We wrote an SOS letter to the Inspector General of Police, and the state governments to find out who she was but we still don’t know her.
“What is most shocking is the fact that they brought the notice on Sunday morning and on the dawn of the next day, they started the demolition.
“Two human rights activists have visited here and have promised to contact the relevant state agencies to find out what really went wrong.
“The letter that was brought by those who came to demolish this place claimed it was from the police but we have been dialling the number and it has been telling us it was the wrong number. We need to find out if truly the letter came from the police as they claimed. The place they demolished is Mowo Phase 2 and Araromi/Atiporome extensions. The two communities they are talking about are Agemowo and Agelado. And they are communities after ours on the Badagry Expressway.
“Two officials of the Public Complaints Commission in Lagos State have visited us and we have given them all the necessary documents to follow up the matter and they have promised to work on them.”
Alhaji Alao Alapanla, social secretary of the CDA and chairman of the community’s task force said he lost a four-bedroom house worth about N4 million to the demolition. He spoke further: “It is a very sad story. I wasn’t around. I had gone for a show with the popular Fuji singer, Obesere. It was there that I got wind of the demolition. My house was the number one in the area and before I rushed down from Ibadan, it has been reduced to rubble, with all my belongings gone. My house was a four-bedroom flat and it cost over N4million. I bought the land from the Oniroko family, one out of the four different families who jointly own the land. I bought the land since 2006 and I didn’t hear that there was any issue on it until 2009 when they said that an unidentified woman was claiming ownership of it. The family who sold the land to us had teamed up to take the case to court. We even hired Festus Keyamo and one Orisalade and the case have since been in court. The case was being held at the Badagry court until they moved it to the Ikeja High Court because of the renovation work at the Badagry court. It was held for about four times at the Ikeja High Court before they suddenly stopped hearing it. And whenever we called our lawyers to know when the case would come up, they would tell us not to worry and that we would be informed whenever it would come up.
“Our representative at the state level for this constituency tried a lot for us then. He said that the woman’s claims appeared to be fake. But we also heard that the woman obtained a C of O in 2010. That was the time she brought many policemen to harass us and ensure that the survey of the land was done. We know that she comes to harass us every December and our Baale was always telling us not to worry, and that the case was in court. Whenever she came, we would run to the Ministry of Physical Planning, but they would tell us she doesn’t have a legal claim to the place.
“Before the houses were demolished, we called the Inspector General of Police and he referred us to the area commander of Area K but we were not permitted to see the man. Now, the place is demolished. The I.G promised that he would call the area commander when we told him that we couldn’t reach him but while he was saying that, the people have already been demolishing the place. We tried to fight to stop them but the policemen who came with them scared us off with gunshots.”
Another victim, Chief Mayegun, said he might lose his life if nothing was done on the matter quickly. And that isn’t without a reason. His hotel, worth N120 million, was demolished.
“I lost my property worth N120 million. I have a hotel that we have planned to commission formally this Saturday (tomorrow). I have made all the necessary arrangements and even paid half of the performance fees to Fuji star Osupa Saheed who was invited to perform at the opening ceremony. I don’t know where to start from now. I have lost all, including all my life savings and the loans I borrowed. I have to recover the money. I want the House of Assembly and human rights activists to come to our aid. This is injustice and it must be dealt with. I am just taking all this as a man. It is too much; somebody must come to my rescue before I die.
“They obtained a kangaroo judgement in their favour at about 3:30 pm on Friday, and officially court closes at 4pm. It was the kangaroo judgement that they brought to demolish the place. What they even brought to effect the demolition wasn’t a court order or injunction.
“I bought the land from the Ajose family and they gave me all the documents that prove that I have bought the land from them. I have bought the land since 1992, and since then, there have been no issues against it. I have registered the hotel they demolished with the state and was already in the process of getting the C of O for it.”
Another victim, Mr. Onyebuchi Joseph who bought 24 plots of land from the Talabi family in the area said he was almost becoming insane over the demolition. “I have lost over 20 million to the demolition. They have destroyed all I used my money to build. But I promised the perpetrators that that it is not the end of the matter. We will fight back.”
Mrs. Obi Rose, who has been resident in the area for more than five years, said: “I have a house and a school that has 182 pupils. I have organized about 89 women and we staged a peaceful protest to Alausa where we were told that the entire woman was claiming is illegal. I have registered the name of my school with the state. Now they have forced us all out, including our children. We now sleep outside. We went to Area K police command but they chased us back. They were more than 100 and many of them were in police uniforms. They came with bulldozers and armoured vehicles. We learnt that a child that was sleeping in a room inside one of the demolished building was trapped during the evil thing and the child perished there. The baby’s mother is running mad now and her people have come to take her away.
“Many people had their vehicles trapped in the buildings and they didn’t even allow them to remove the vehicles of belongings. They crushed everything.”
Mrs. Ovie, a retired prison warder could not curtail her tears. She wailed profusely as she narrated her story. “All that we have laboured for has gone. All the retirement benefits of my husband and I and our salary arrears amounting to millions were pulled together to build the house and it was a very beautiful house. But they have reduced everything to rubble.
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