Following the continuous presence of at least 50 armed policemen in Magodo Phase 2 Estate of Lagos State, the estate management has ordered a closure of the estate gates in protest against the planned demolition of property in the estate.
It was gathered that the estate management ordered closure of the two gates leading into the estate in the early hours of Tuesday.
Recall that late December, Magodo Residents Association shut the estate gates after suspected land grabbers, led by some policemen and members of a family, invaded the community to claim possession of property.
Read Also: Demolition: Residents Stranded As Land Grabbers, Police Invade Magodo Estate (Videos/Photos)
Lagos State government says it will investigate all those responsible for the recent invasion of Magodo Phase II Estate with a view to prosecuting any person found culpable.
Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), declared as illegal, the invasion of the estate in the Shangisha area of the state on Wednesday by suspected land grabbers and some policemen.
Onigbanjo said the High Court of Lagos state was not aware of the development, adding that those found culpable of the invasion will be prosecuted.
Read Also: Lagos Vows To Prosecute Land Grabbers Over Invasion Of Magodo Estate
Speaking about the latest siege, Chairman of Magodo Residents Association, Banjo Osinubi told journalists during the protest that the presence of armed cops was unacceptable.
He stated;
We called our people out to protest this morning. Over 50 policemen are living within the estate. We want the police out of our estate. There are no cases of kidnapping, rioting, but why are they still here? We want them out of our estate.
Protesting o lacards-carrying residents continued their demonstration.
“Gov Sanwo-Olu, stop the illegal possession of Magodo phase 2 properties which were legally bought from LASG,” a placard hanging from the neck from one of the protesters read.
Another placard urged, “Lagos Attorney-General prosecutes those involved in the illegal invasion of Magodo Phase 2 you promised,” with yet another one stating, “Magodo Phase 2 has been under siege of the IGP’s anti-riot police squad for three weeks.”
This, it was learnt, led to the disruption of vehicular movement. People were allowed to exit the estate, but were restricted from entering.
Several residents of the estate had carried placards with different inscriptions to register their displeasure.
They also queried the presence of the policemen who were said to have been in the estate since last month.
Osinubi further expressed;
We want to live in peace. This is a business between the Lagos State government and the Adeyiga family. We are under siege; the police have been here for two weeks, they came in December 2021 to take possession of properties on behalf of Adeyiga family and others. Since then, we’ve got in touch with prominent personalities to intervene and get the police off our estate.
We are victims, even inside our own homes. The police have been here. They are very restless. Just imagine there is an altercation between a resident and the police. The easiest way to avoid any of such scenarios is to detach the police officers back to Abuja.
He added;
We’ve allowed people to go out, but we are protesting this morning to let the world know what’s going. We are supposed to be at work, but we want the whole world to know what’s happening at Magodo.
The governor spoke with me yesterday (Monday), and he said he’s on top of it. He has promised to address the situation.
Osinubi noted;
The Commissioner of Police last week sent the DCP Ops to supervise the withdrawal of troops but they claimed they are yet to get signal. We learnt the police were drafted from Abuja.
Our immediate concern is to get the police out of the estate for us to leave in peace. We need the government to do the needful to get the family off our neck. About four to five years ago, they did it, and now again this year, they want to do it.
VIDEO: Residents of Magodo phase 2, Lagos State, restricted from going in and out of the Estate. pic.twitter.com/tAxh4ToQdg
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During the previous invasion, the group used red, brown and blue inks to inscribe ‘ID/795/88 Possession Taken Today 21/12/21 by Court Order,’ on various properties on the estate.
The suspected family were said to have led the group and armed policemen to the estate to execute a Supreme Court judgement.
The group were about to invade the estate with a bulldozer when the estate management ordered a closure of the gate.
It was learnt that it took the intervention of the Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu before the gates were reopened as the Inspector-General of Police, Baba Usman, promised to withdraw the policemen.
