The residents of the Ojulari community in Oworonshoki, Lagos were faced with terrifying experience on Saturday night as the State Government rolled out its bulldozers with stern looking enforcement officers including policemen and pulled down houses in the area.
This was as it was gathered that the midnight operations that witnessed the tear gassing of the victims of the demolition, continued into the early hours of Sunday amidst widespread protests and resistance by members of the community.
Checks by Forefront News indicated that two bull dozers were deployed for the midnight operation that was given security backup by about 50 fully armed officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force that dispersed residents that tried to resist the demolition as they argued that there was a subsisting court order stopping the demolition.
One of the residents, Mr Olarenwaju Segun said they did not sleep throughout the night as a result of the bulldozers which were deployed late at night after they were stopped in the morning, adding that the demolition still continued on Sunday when people ought to be in church.
In the words of Segun; “More than 50 police officers were shooting teargas at people protesting against the pulling down of our houses in the dead of the night.
“It is really sad. Many of us have no where to go to as we speak and the demolition squad allowed miscreants to steal our hard-earned properties. This is a grave injustice,” he said.
Forefront News gathered that earlier on Saturday, the residents had successfully blocked and repelled the initial attempt to demolish their homes in the Udi Araba area, which is a densely populated section overlooking the Lagos Lagoon.
Another affected resident, Mufutawu Alabi said that the demolition was carried out without any marking of buildings to be affected and expressed concern over the way and manner a state government unleashed unquantifiable destruction on the properties of the people.
Alabi said; “The demolition was carried out without any marking of buildings. Most of us got the land and approvals legitimately. When they came in the morning, we were able to mobilise and stopped them, and they left in the morning, but we did not know that they would return at midnight. Why midnight when people are sleeping?”
However, some of the residents are pointing accusing fingers at the Oba of Oworonshoki, Oba Babatunde Saliu, whom they alleged gave support for the demolition to reclaim waterfront lands allegedly meant for private development.
Oba Saliu however denied the allegation, saying that he had nothing whatsoever to do with the demolition.
Saliu said that he also suffered losses from a similar government-led exercise, saying; “I was also a victim when I unknowingly built on land that had been acquired by the government. I have no hand in any demolition”.
Speaking on the demolition, the Baale of Oworonshoki, Chief Olorunwa Luwa, condemned the exercise, stressing that it was not sanctioned by any government authority.
According to Luwa; “If this were a government-approved operation, it wouldn’t happen at midnight or 3 a.m. People with genuine property documents are losing their homes in this lawless exercise”.
Expectedly, the demolition has left many and families homeless just as majority are in shock over the midnight “coordinated night assault” on the community.
