The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has intervened in the lingering land dispute in Magodo Phase 2 estate between the residents/house owners and landowners under the auspices of Shangisha Landlord Association.
The governor paid a visit to the estate on Tuesday and invited all parties involved for a meeting in his office on Wednesday, January 4, 2022.
Sanwo-Olu’s visit follows an earlier protest by the Magodo residents on Tuesday over planned demolition and takeover of the state by the land grabbers as well as the presence of heavily armed policemen.
The residents, who had earlier in the day converged in front of the estate, displayed various placards lamenting over the situation and sought the immediate intervention of the Lagos State Government.
Chairman of the Estate, Bajo Osinubi lamented that despite earlier intervention by the governor, armed policemen have remained adding that residents had been living in fear as the policemen move around with their weapons.
What you should know
Recall that about two weeks ago, businesses and residents living at Magodo phase 2 estate area of Lagos woke up to a lockdown of the estate preventing them from going to their places of work following a court injunction in favour of landowners, under the Shangisha Landlord Association.
According to information gathered by Nairametrics, the lockdown was necessitated by the management of the estate to stop Landowners from driving around the estate with policemen and thugs to disrupt construction activities within the estate.
The hoodlums marked some houses in the estate with an inscription which reads ‘ID/795/88 possession taken today 21/12/2021 by court order’ in what appeared to be a move to demolish the marked houses.
Following the intervention of the Lagos government, the police withdrew and normalcy returned to the estate the next day.
The Lagos State government condemned the attempt to demolish structures in the estate and promised to investigate.
The state government had described as unwarranted and illegal, the invasion of the estate by some landowners under the Shangisha Landlord Association led by one Chief Adebayo Adeyiga and stern-looking policemen, in purported execution of a Supreme Court judgement and vowed to prosecute those involved.
They also revealed that the execution was carried out by unknown Bailiffs as the Sherriff of the High Court of Lagos where the Judgment emanated were not responsible for the purported execution that was carried out on December 21, 2021, at Magodo.
