• 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.
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.
