Government Officials Turn Land Grabbers In Ibeju Lekki

MICHAEL AKINOLA

It appears that land grabbing in Lagos State has taken another dimension following the discovery that some land grabbers now connive with government officials and security agents to grab lands in Ibeju Lekki area of the state.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that this was uncovered recently after a company known as Urban Shelter allegedly engaged some government officials, armed police officers and invaded a community known as Amisu in Igbo-poro area of Ibeji Lekki, Lagos, for land grabbing led by some officials of the State for cover up.

It was gathered that two suspects linked as officials of the state government, who were identified as Gabriel Ojewuyi and Tope Okunboyejo, led the operation that left the members of the community in sorrow and pains over some parcels of land.

The men, led by some armed Police officers, reportedly invaded the area, shot sporadically, demolished properties there in ‘Rambo style’ typical of land grabbers without due notice to the original occupants and inhabitants of the land.

They were said to have first subdued the community by arresting their youth leader, one Kazeem Abolaji and ensured that they moved into the land.
This was disclosed by one of the community leaders, Nosiru Amisu, who described what happened as invasion and conquest of the community by armed men. He narrated that on 20th August, 2019, some men, who claimed to be officials of the Lagos State Government stormed the community with three Toyota Hilux vehicles loaded with armed Police men and shot sporadically to scare the members of the community before they went to the said lands and mapped some portions for land grabbing.
He said when the shooting abated, he went to the scene and saw that two of the vehicles had the inscriptions of Office of the Surveyor General and New Town Development Authority, NTDA. He said he approached two of the men who came with the armed men, who he later identified as Gabriel Ojewuyi and Tope Okunboyajo and they told him that they had come to take some parcels of land to allocate to undisclosed persons. He then reportedly inquired from them why they would come to the community with such number of armed men, harassing and threatening the whole community and they claimed that it was the order from above that directed them to do so.

Amisu recalled that their forefathers had lived in the land for several centuries and their people had customary right to own land. He noted that if the government wanted to take some parcels of land, they ought to have informed the community as was done in other communities in the State rather than bringing armed men to destroy their properties, farmlands, intimidating and inflicting injuries on the people’s ancestral land.
He explained that it was not the first time the community was ceding land to government yet they did not join issues with them despite the fact that no compensation was paid to the community and the land was given to private people for their businesses. He wondered why they had to invade the community with armed Police officers probably to intimidate and grab their lands and give to private people.
Another community leader, Amisu Sefiu, said that the community was still in shock over the invasion and demanded that the government should call their staff to order and they should leave the remaining lands for farming and other uses for their survival as a community.
The community also demanded that the intimidation and harassment should stop and those they had arrested should be released immediately.
They reiterated that they are peace loving people and they should be allowed to continue to live in peace and allowed to pursue their means of livelihood in their community.