Some residents of Ogudu in Kosofe council area of Lagos have appealed to the state government to save them from activities of land grabbers.
At a peaceful protest in Lagos, the families also called on former Gov. Bola Tinubu, Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos and the Assistant Inspector-General (AIG) of Police in-charge of Zone 2 to rescue them.
They protested against alleged demolition of their buildings and alleged threat to their lives by suspected land grabbers.
Speaking to journalists on behalf of the protesters, Prince Wale Oyekoya said the allegedly grabbed land was located on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
According to Oyekoya, the protesters derived their land titles from the Fashola Family of Ogudu.
He said that they had obtained the certificates of occupancy of the land for more than 10 years.
He said that several levels of development/construction works worth millions of naira had been made on the land before the demolition.
He alleged that on April 19, 2021, about 20 suspected thugs stormed the place with one Mr Ajibola Bisiriyu, claiming that Bisiriyu had been asked by a popular politician to develop the land.
“We were told to vacate the land within three days and warned to stay off for the safety of our lives.
“While efforts were being made to report the incident to our vendors and also verify the claim from the appropriate authorities, Bisiriyu, on April 22, came to our land with a bulldozer, accompanied with 30 thugs to demolish all structures without a court order.
“We call on Lagos State Government, the state House of Assembly, Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu, AIG zone 2 and Oba of Lagos to come to our rescue,” he said.
However, when contacted, Mr Ajibola Bisiriyu said that there was no truth in the claim.
He said that the land was allocated to him by the Lagos State Government, adding that there were documents supporting the allocation.
Bisiriyu said the only property that the protesters had documents backing it was the Ogudu Muslim Community Praying Ground.
“We were at Ogudu Police Station because of this case.
“They were requested to produce documents, and from what they presented, the documents only covered the Ogudu Muslim Community Praying Ground.
“I never threatened anyone because of this land. In fact, they are the ones threatening to deal with me.
“I have been to the land twice to see the level of work; I got reports from my workers that these people were threatening them,” he said.
According to Bisiriyu, the way forward is for the protesters to present required documents.
“I will bring mine before the officials on land matters in Alausa to see.
“I am a peaceful person, I don’t want any trouble, “ he said.
