Nursing mother, octogenarian, others cry to Ambode over demolition of homes

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

Residents of Lagoon View Estate, along Ibeshe Road, Ikorodu, including the nursing mother of a three-week old baby, and an 87-year-old woman, stormed the office of Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and State House of Assembly to protest the demolition of their residential buildings.

The protesters displayed placards with several inscriptions, such as “Governor Ambode save us from landgrabbers,” “Nigeria is not a jungle, Ambode give us justice,” among others.

They claimed that officials of the state Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development stormed their residence on August 16 with bulldozers without prior notice and demolished 16 buildings.

Spokesperson of the protesters and a resident, Mr. Victor Hamstrong, who presented a protest letter to representatives of Governor Ambode, demanded immediate intervention and investigation to determine those responsible, as well as seek redress to right the wrong and forestall future occurrence.

Hamstrong said: “The task force demolished buildings, occupied and unoccupied, on over two hectares of land, worth N1 billion.

“We are here to seek the intervention of Governor Ambode and the lawmakers to get justice and redress over the unlawful and unjust demolition of our homes by agents, who claimed to be officials from the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development.

“We have been rendered homeless with our children left on the streets. We are using this opportunity to appeal to the state governor to come to our aid, to save us from dying on the streets and reclaim our homes.”

Their solicitor, Mr. Akin Duyilemi, argued that the land of the estate belonging to his clients was not subject to litigation or liable to judgment execution.

 

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