The landlords of Agric and Owutu in Ikorodu West Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Lagos State have tasked Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to obey the processes of the court which has waded into their case, asking the government to refrain from demolishing their buildings for other purposes, pending the determination of their case and all compensation paid.
The landlords are seeking to enforce their fundamental human rights to acquire and own property anywhere in Nigeria, following the sudden issuance of a seven-day notice to vacate same.
According to their legal counsel, Barr. Alexander Ishogba of Alexander Ishogba & Co. who spoke with newsmen in Lagos on Wednesday, 1 November, 2023, the landlords resorted to seek the help of the court as the last hope of the common man after their petitions and protests to the governor’s office, the Lagos State House of Assembly and the Chairman of the Lagos West Local Council Development Area seem not yielding the desired result.
Report has it that, houses at Agric, Owutu were marked for another round of demolition, five years after the same houses were partly demolished with no compensation paid as earlier promised by Lagos State Government. They expressed surprise that the Sanwo-Olu administration again, wants to demolish their buildings after they had rebuilt most of them into two-storey buildings with the aid of bank loans and property developers.
They had begged the government to honour the agreement which it had with them in 2018.
According to the landlords, it is suspected that some people are hiding under the name of the Lagos State Government and the road construction project to connive with the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Ministry of Works and Ministry of Physical Planning to render them homeless.
Barr. Ishoga noted that, while his clients are not against the progress and development of Lagos State, as a law abiding and responsible government, it is expected that proper and commensurate compensation be made, and due process followed, whenever legally built properties are to be acquired for public use before any demolition.
The landlords spokesperson, Mr AbdulGaniyy Mustapha who was on a wheel chair urged the Lagos State House of Assembly to live up to their promise to ensure that no building is illegally demolished without due diligence and adequate compensation.
Mustapha, a notable member of the Association of the Physically Challenged in Lagos State said findings by the landlords revealed that the intended demolition is being surreptitiously planned by some unscrupulous but influential men and women including members of transport union, within and outside the local government, who are conniving with the construction company to rob the landlords of their properties that were not ordinarily affected by the construction work.
