Makoko Invasion: Rights Group Tasks Gov Sanwo-Olu On Justice

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

The Centre for Human and Socio-Economic Rights (CHSR) has called on the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to intervene into the alleged illegal invasion and murder of innocent victims in Ori-Oke Alala in Makoko area of Yaba in 2018.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the National President of the group, Mr. Alex Omotehinse, made the appeal at a news conference held on Friday at Right House, Ikeja, Lagos, over the conduct of the Police and office of the Attorney General of the State, Ministry of Justice.

 Text of the Press Conference:

On Thursday 10th May 2018 at about 11:00am Mr. Jide Bakare while he was the chairman of the Lagos state task force on land grabbing, mobsilized and led joint team of fully armed to the teeth policemen from the Lagos state task force and policemen from the SCID panti to invade the Act of The Apostle Church Ori-Oke Alala Temidire in Makoko area of Yaba LCDA Lagos State.
During the invasion, the policemen started shooting sporadically and indiscriminately directly into the community and unleashed violence on the ACT of the APOSTLE CHURCH Ori-Oke Alala Temidire Makoko, the residents scampering for safety resulted in death, injuries, displacement of thousands of residents, destruction of properties worth millions of Naira and the Community church was also burnt, two innocent residents namely Mr. Kolawole Iwalokun and Mr. Seyi Akintimehin were gruesomely murdered by a trigger happy officer identify as Sgt. Seun Awolu aka Ijaya.

On Friday 11th May 2018, the Church wrote a strong worded 12 paragraph petition to the then Commissioner of Police CP. Edgar Imohimi against Mr. Jide Bakare with the captionPETITION AGAINST THE CHAIRMAN LAGOS STATE TASK FORCE ON LAND GRABBER AND OFFICERS OF THE  NIGERIAPOLICE FORCE and in the same vein a constitutionallawyer Mr. J.A. Badejo SAN also wrote a strong worded 16 paragraph petition to the CP. tagged: RE-ILLEGAL EXECUTION OF COURT JUDGEMENT OVER THE PROPERTY OCCUPIED BY THE REGISTERED TRUSTEES OF THE ACT OF THE APOSTLES CHURCH MAKOKO AIYETORO COMPOUND EBUTEMETTA LAGOS.

On Wednesday 16th May 2018, some of us in the civil society organizations led the residents and sympathizers in a peaceful procession to the State CID panti to register our displeasure over the unlawful invasion and killing of innocent citizens because most of the policemen are from Panti and the then DC Panti DCP. Yetunde  Longe warmly received us as she wept uncontrollably when she saw the posters of those killed and those injured by the Police.

In her speech while she was addressing us she (DCP. Yetunde Longe) said the Lagos State Police command did not send any policemen neither do the command approvedany team of policemen to the said operation. she claimed that the command only heard about the incident on radio and that the Commissioner of Police has set up a panel of inquiry to investigate those involved and promised that we should be rest assure that the perpetrators will be brought to book.

On Wednesday 23rd of May 2018, the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations in Lagos State consist of CDHR, HURIDAC, HCRA, CWI etc. in collaboration with Ilaje National Alliance Movement (INAMO), Egbe Omo Ilaje Worldwide staged a five-thousand-man march protest from Allen junction to the Government house Alausa to submit a petition to the governor and speaker of the Lagos state house of assembly on the sad situation.The governor letter was received by the Special Adviser on Civic Engagement while the speaker letter was received by the majority Leader Hon. Senai Agunbiade SOB who also promised that the house will look into our petition set up a committee that will do justice to all the complaints in the petition and ensure the deceased and all affectedget justice, but  up till today both the governor office and the Lagos House of Assembly never did anythingthis is  very shameful.

On 4th October 2018, another petition was written to the Inspector General Police with the  caption.: A COMPLAINT OF MURDEROUS INVASION OF THE ACT OF THE APOSTLE CHURCH ORI-OKE EBUTE METTA LAGOS RESULTING TO DEATHS, ARSON, TERRORISM, ABUSE OF POWER, TRESSPASS, SACRILAGE, GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM AND WANTON DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY EFFECTIVELY PERPETRAITED BY MR. SIKIRU OJIFINI, MR. JIDE BAKARE, AND MR. BAYO BALOGUN WITH LEGION OF THUGS AND HEAVILY ARMED POLICEMEN ON 10TH OF MAY 2018 CONTRARY TO SECTION 52, 219,337(1) 339 & 401 OF THE CRIMINAL LAW OF LAGOS STATE AND CALL FOR URGENT INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION PREMISE ON JUSTICE AND FAIRPLAY.
Sometime in November 2018, the policemen from the FCIID Alagbon invited the leadership of the church that their petition to the IGP has been approved and assigned to them for investigation, they went to write their statement and the likes of Mr. Jide Bakare and other alleged in the petition were also invited to make statement but were released on bail same day to supposed reliable sureties.
Thereafter the police at FCIID Alagbon said they have forwarded the case file to thedirectorate of public prosecutions( DPP) for advice after some months the police did the post-mortem on the corpse and released them to the familyfor buried and since, the victims families have been subjected to come today .come tomorrow with no any positive result.
To our greatest surprise, after a paddy paddy arrangement and kangaroo investigation, the case file was submitted to the Lagos State Ministry of justice for DPP advice on the matter which is  against their normal practices of arraigning suspect before a magistrate court for murder before forwarding the case file to the office of Directorate of Public Prosecution for  DPP advice day light robbery of justice.
Sometime last year in a letter dated 29th October 2020, where the attention of the Attorney General 0f Lagos state  was drawn to the  case  file and the delay in getting  the DPP advice.The letter was acknowledged letter dated 6th February and delivered on 21st February re-assuring the people that the office will do the needful.
When it was obvious that there is a foul play, the CHSR as a reputable human rights organization in a 20 paragraph complaint letter to the office of the Attorney General and commissioner for justice and the office of the DPP dated 28th January 2021, titled: AQUAINTANCE OF COMPLAINT ON DELAYING OF DPP ADVICE IN A MURDER CASE SINCE 2018 AND OUR SUBSEQUENT CALL FOR YOUR URGENT INTERVENTION. In their response dated 4th February 2021 signed by O.A. Alagbe a state counsel states that he was directed to inform us that the legal advice in respect of the matter had been written by their office and information has been dispatch for filling at the high court for the prosecution of the matter that our organization may apply to the office for the certify true copies (CTC) of the said legal advice.
Based on the response from the office of the DPP, we applied for the certify true copy of the legal advice and a certify true copy of a supplementary legal advice dated 20th January 2021 was given to us which shows that legal advice on the matter has been truly issued since on 3rd  September 2019 where they stated that the office shall prosecute page B3 Seun Awolu (aka Ijaya) for the offence of manslaughter contrary to section 225 of the criminal law cap c17, Vol.3 law of Lagos state. 
In respect to the DPP advicewe demanded through our letter dated Monday 1st March 2021 that a proper and urgent prosecution of the perpetrators of the heinous crime against humanity but up till today the ministry of justice has refused to charged the culprits.
The reason for this press briefing is that we havevisited   the records  section I in the Ikeja and Lagos state High court, there is no record to show that the DPP is ready to prosecute these evil doers. All efforts to get the file number from the DPP office had proved abortive. By this action and inactions, it shows that the DPP office has compromised.
Those innocent soul that was sent to early grave by the trigger-happy officer left behind wives and children. Other victims of this murderous act are alive and still nursing the gun injuries they sustained on the day of the incident while one of them Mr. Seth Omojuwa who have his affected leg amputated for him to survive.
OUR SURPRISE  
Our surprise is that what used to be the usual practice of the Nigerian Police Force in any murder cases or any capital offences is that the suspect after investigation would be charged to a magistrate court.The presiding magistrate would remand the suspects in any of the correctional Facilities, then the case file will be duplicated to the office of the Directorate of Public prosecutions (DPP) for advice. But in this case reverse is the case as the suspects were only invited not arrested and after making theirstatements, they were all released to go home against their norms. If suspects were to have been ordinary citizens like me and you..you know what would have happened
DISAPPOINTMENT AND REGRET
The greatest disappointmentis that the Ministry of Justice through the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) could stoop so low by compromising in a case of this magnitude as their so called legal advice to prosecute someone who murdered two harmless innocent citizens in a broad daylight for manslaughter and even up till today they havent been  able to prosecute  the perpetrators of this dastardly and barbaric act while the trigger happy police man is still gallivanting and walking freely because he must have gotten information from a reliable source that the DPP advice has water down the case.
The fact remain that the ministry of Justice is only trying all within his capacity to kill this case because it involved one of their senior officers who happened to be the former chairman of the Lagos state task force on land grabber an agency under the ministry of justice, and the only regret we have here is that the policemen from FCIID Alagbon (could have not done otherwise) shouldnt have forwarded the case file to the Lagos State Ministry of Justice whose agency under it is directly involved.
OUR DEMAND
Based on the foregoing, the CHSR and other well meaning civil society organizations ably represented here today, hereby demand that the office of the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Lagos State should as a matter of urgency mandate the DPP to  charge the matter to a court of competent Jurisdiction in the interest of justiceso as  to restore hope for the deceased and the wounded victims else we wont mind to defile the government order on omicron and stage another mass protest to barricade the ministry of Justice.
ALL WE WANT IS JUSTICE, JUSTICE AND JUSTICE FOR THE VICTIMS.