Residents urge govt to probe Lagos community demolition

Residents of Ipakere at Noforija in the Eredo Local Council Development Area of Epe, Lagos State, have called on the state government to probe the demolition carried out in their community.

PUNCH Metro reports that the residents raised the alarm months after some supposed officials the New Town Development Authority allegedly demolished their homes.

The officials were said to have stormed the area on Thursday, October 31, with armed security operatives and started to pull down some residential buildings.

Speaking to our correspondent on Sunday, the chairman of the Community Development Association in Ipakere, Bolarinwa Oluwasegun, said the residents had yet to ascertain what led to the demolition as the Lagos State Government did not claim responsibility since their visit to the NTDA office.
The chairman also called on the state government to specifically investigate the officials who led the demolition, citing vested interests.

He said, “We have yet to ascertain that the officials were from the state government. That is why we are crying out because we don’t have any power. What we want is for the state government to probe the demolition. The last time they came, we had to prevent them from entering the town. After standing our ground that they wouldn’t access the community, they had to lie that they were not coming to demolish and that they only wanted to pass through our community to connect to the other side.

“We told them to go with their vehicle and further queried them on why they were with a caterpillar. But they insisted on going with the caterpillar and that was why we refused them access. We told them to kill us since they were already armed. The moment they discovered we wouldn’t allow them, they had to go back. So, we suspect they are not here on official purpose and that is the reason why we want the state government to probe them.”
The Assistant Secretary to the association, Olasupo Johnson, said checks by the association created suspicion about their claims of acting on the instruction of the state government.

“The first time they came, they said it was the government that sent them. We have made our findings and we have not even heard from the government yet. The lawmaker representing us had also confirmed that they were on an illegal duty and that the state government was not aware of the demolition. He also said the land was free from government acquisition. A probe by the government will reveal their purpose.”

Johnson also mulled the possibility of a peaceful protest to convey their message to the state government.
“The monarch, Oba Babatunde Ogunlaja Aladesoyin of Odo-Noforija Kingdom, said he was not aware any official would come to demolish homes in the community and promised to get the Lagos State Government involved. He said he wanted Noforija to develop more and not demolition,” Johnson added.

Narrating the invasion to PUNCH Metro, Oluwasegun 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 a 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 with full force the following day and started demolishing our buildings.”
He said the incident had impacted the health of some owners of the demolished buildings while some had been rendered homeless.

In a video sent to our correspondent, the houses were seen levelled to the ground, while some were partially demolished.

A widow who was also affected by the incident, Osunwemimo Omitutu, told our correspondent that she and her six children had no place to lay their heads after her house was demolished.

She however appealed for 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 where to go. Some people have died while some were hospitalised as a result of this incident,” she added.

The state Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso, could not be reached for comments as calls made to his phone did not connect. A text message sent to him had yet to be replied to as of the time this report was filed.