These are not the best of times for residents of Candid Estate community, Araromi Ale, in Olorunda Local Council Development Area, Badagry, Lagos State. Men of Landed Properties Special Operations team and one Alhaji Garba allegedly stormed the community with four bulldozers and by the time the dust settled over 200 buildings were knocked down and at least 5,000 persons rendered homeless.
According to Mr. Akaeze Obinda, chairman, Candid Estate community, Araromi Ale, trouble started on Wednesday, when men who claimed to be officials of Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) visited the community and did some markings on buildings and then issued letters with warnings to some residents that they should vacate the buildings within 48 hours.
“The first step I took was to call the number on the letter and the Olorunda zonal officer of LASBCA told me she was not aware of any demolition but that we should call back next week. On Thursday morning, being December 8, we all assembled at Oko Afor bus stop to meet the LASBCA officials.
“To our greatest surprise, we saw fully armed policemen from Zone 2, numbering up to 200 alongside men of Kick Against Indiscipline with their detention trucks. Any one showing sign of resistance was whisked away and detained inside the trucks.
“Also, land grabbers (Ajagungbale) were on ground in large numbers armed with cudgels, charms and other weapons. Anyone making calls or taking pictures was beaten to pulp,” he disclosed.
Another resident of the community, Alhaji Dawodu Yesufu, told Daily Sun that when he first saw the bulldozers and the men of the task force trooping into the community, he thought it was an invasion, and it was when they struck the first building that he knew he was in trouble. In a matter of hours, his building was reduced to rubble.
Earlier, a man who identified himself as Garuba and leader of the demolition squad, while addressing members of the community, said he would only remove obstruction and impediment on drainage. But did he keep to his words?
Mr. Obinda said immediately they entered the community, they commenced demolition.
“They served us notice on the 7th and the next day, being 8th, they began to demolish our homes. They treated us like animals,” he said.
Giving insight into how landlords in the area acquired the properties, Odinda explained that sometime in 2005, they approached the Oshuku Iyonbu, Ebenezer and Fagbohun families in Araromi Ale and bought plots of lands from them.
He said: “When we approached them, we asked if the land was under acquisition and they said no. We asked if there was any litigation or court cases, they said none. Thereafter we went to Alausa to make enquiries about status of the land and we were told that though it was once under government acquisition, the parcel of land had been released to ministry of agriculture and cooperatives, which in turn released the land to the Oshuku, Ebenezer and Fagbohun families, who in turn sold the land to us.
“When we told them about our predicament, they were helpless. They told us that they never sold the land to anyone except us. They vowed to take the matter to court
“Until this crisis began, occupants of this community have occupied this area for over 15 years. The buildings also have land use charge numbers and we have been paying our tenement to Lagos State government.
“We also did general survey of the entire estate and sent it to Alausa for verification and ratification and we were assured that we had government’s consent to build and occupy. That was why we were surprised when LASBCA gave our community only two days’ notice.”
Most of the victims whose houses were demolished said they were not allowed to remove any of their belongings.
A victim, Mr. Japhet Alaleme, told Daily Sun that his compound was the first to be demolished. He said: “When I heard sound of bulldozers at my doorstep I immediately evacuated my aged sick mother-in-law from her room. As I moved to go inside to get my other belongings, I was ordered to stop by heavily armed policemen drawn from special forces and mobile policemen. Then the bulldozer crushed my house.”
For a retired ASP who once served as DPO in Badagry Police Division, it was the greatest shock of his life. He said: “As the bulldozer approached my home, I approached the policemen from Zone 2 and identified myself as retired ASP and he ignored me. I also put call across to the area commander Area K Command, who also intervened. He was also shunned and in a swoop the house went down as it was crushed to pieces.”
For Iya Muyedeen, her family’s life revolved around her home. Her husband, Baba Muyedeen, is a businessman, while she supports the family with her petty trading. Her shop in front of their building was first to be crushed, with all the goods therein, before the main building was destroyed. The shock suffered by the woman has since confined her to a hospital bed.
Mr. Obinda futher said, as the bulldozers continued to pull down the structures, distress calls got to the chairman of Olorunda LCDA, Mr. Samuel Olatunji, who came in company of a former member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Ojelabi, but they were ambushed by thugs for daring to intervene.
Uncorfirmed reports said the LCDA chairman escaped death by the whiskers as his vehicle and that of his entourage were pelted with stones.
Having chased the chairman away and with the police refusing to intervene because of “orders from above”, the demolition squad, backed by the police and thugs, triumphantly marched into the community and, for three days, spread terror until Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Friday night, issued a terse directive disbanding the Landed Properties Special Operations, an agency under the Ministry of Lands and Planning.
Following the government’s directive, the demolition squad immediately withdrew their bulldozers from the community.
Speaking to Daily Sun after the squad left the community, most residents saw the intervention of the governor coming late as over 50 per cent of buildings in the community had been reduced to rubble.
One of the landlords in the area lamented that the LASBCA operated like armed robbers. He said: “They pointed guns at us and ordered us to bring N10 million immediately. Those who could afford paid immediately through bank transfer. While those who couldn’t afford to pay the money had their properties demolished.”
While reacting to the development, a constitutional lawyer, Shina Ogunyale, said eviction order within 48 hours was an infringement on their constitutional rights and, if they pressed for compensation from LASBCAand Lagos State government, they would surely get reprieve.
The community has thus called on the Governor Sanwo-Olu to compensate them for their losses in properties and psychological torment caused by the marauders.