Maroko Evictees Mark 30 Years Of Forceful Eviction, Neglect

PAUL IYOGHOJIE

Maroko residents who were brutally evicted by the then Military Governor  of Lagos State, Colonel Raji Rasaki on 14 July 1990 and are currently squatting at different Jakande Estates in Lekki, Ikota and Epe areas of Lagos State on Tuesday July 14 marked the 30 years of their forceful eviction from the community.

Speaking during a virtual press briefing in compliance with the COVID-19 protocols at their Secretariat in Jakande Estate in Lekki, the Chairman of the Maroko Evictees, Alhaji Chief Olakorede Jegede, said that they decided to marked the 30 years they were brutally evicted by the then Lagos State Military Governor, Col. Raji Rasaki with the conspiracy of the then Federal Government and some elites.

According to Alhaji Jegede, they wanted to remind the Nigeria Government  and the World that Maroko Evictees are still struggling to get justice from the inhuman and barbaric treatment meted out to them by the Government that supposed to protect them.

“On the fateful day of 14 July, 1990 at about 9 am all entrances leading to Maroko community were under siege by  fully armed soldiers, mobile Policemen who invaded the place with Caterpillars to unjustly demolished over 10,000 houses and displaced over 300,000 residents without prior notice. 

“During the illegal operations which lasted for about 14 days, some of our wives and daughters were not spared as they were raped while some of our parents were murdered in cold blood and the adverse effect of the demolition and displacement brought untold hardship to our distraught people and our economic means of livelihood was ruined and survival became almost impossible.

“The persistent public outcry by local and international human right activists especially the Civil Liberty Organisation (CLO) and Social and Economy Right Action Centre (SERAC ) compelled the government to compensate us and we were eventually resettled at an uncompleted  government estates in Ilasan, Ikota and Epe, but sadly, these estates were not fit for human habitable, but we had no choice than to manage it.

“Although we were resettled at Jakande, Ikota and Epe and issued allocation papers, but the government had for the past 30 years deliberately deprived the estates, which have been overtaken by flood in recent time, of basic social amenities and infrastructures,

“Though it has been 30 years of our struggling to get justice, we are not going to rest on our oars until we secure the needed justice from the Federal and the Lagos State Government and we are now appealing to the President and the Commander In Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari and the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu to come to our aid and renovate the dilapidated Ilasan and Epe structures for us to live a normal life and stop further threatening us with another eviction”, Jegede appealed. 

Other leaders at the briefing were Mr Benson Oketola and Comrade Andrew Oretan, Secretary and Youth Leaders of Maroko Evictees. 

Maroko was what is today known as Oniru Royal Estate; some parts of Victoria Island and Lekki Phase one.

Being a settlement of low-income earners, Maroko easily attracted a lot of migrants as it was in close proximity to economically robust areas.

They made their living by supplying the needed skills to businesses located at nearby Islands of Lagos. And with a population of over 300,000 people (out of which about 50,000 were children), and 10,000 landlords, Maroko became very popular among Lagosians.