November 21st, 2024
The Lagos State Government has been called upon by the residents of Ipakere at Noforija in the Ibeju Lekki Local Government Area of Lagos State to intervene in the ongoing demolition of their community.
Speaking with the newsmen on Wednesday, the residents said this was being carried out by officials of the New Town Development Authority.
The chairman of the Community Development Association in Ipakere, Bolarinwa Oluwasegun, said efforts to prevent them from pulling down the buildings also proved abortive.
He said, “On May 5, 2024, some officials of the state government accompanied by armed policemen entered our communities and started to mark some of the buildings. We approached them and asked why they were marking the buildings but they declined response before eventually leaving that day.
“We have been here for over 12 years and nobody disturbed us and we have been living peacefully. They later returned in August and told us to evacuate the area. It was in the process that we discovered that they were officials of the New Town Development Authority.
“After that, we went to their office in Ikeja. When we got there, we were asked to write a letter and provide evidence. To our surprise, they came again on October 30 and started damaging some of the buildings in our community with hammers. They came in full force the following day and started demolishing our buildings.”
Another resident, Olasupo Johnson, said he ensured that his land was free from government acquisition before he built a house on it.
“Before I built my house, I charted it and did a survey and confirmed that it was free from government acquisition. I did my due diligence which the state government required from us. Some of us rushed down here from our places of work when we were told they had started demolishing our houses. I paid my tax regularly,” he noted.
Osunwemimo Omitutu, another victim of the demolition, however appealed to the state government to come to her aid.
“Some widows own parts of the buildings that were demolished and I am one of them. Most of us gathered money from our little earnings to build the houses. We don’t have anywhere to go. Some people have died while some were hospitalised as a result of this incident,” she added.