Magodo Phase 2 Estate residents have again, on Tuesday, taken to the street a peaceful protest against the planned demolition of houses, calling on the Lagos State government for swift intervention.
In one voice of protest, the residents also worry over the continuous presence of police in the estate as one of the protest placards revealed the policemen have been present for about three weeks.
It was gathered that how the estate residents blocked the entrance to the estate over the presence of a bulldozer parked in front of the estate for planned demolition.
In the previous protest that lasted over 24 hours, according to information reported, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, promised to look into the matter and directed policemen should be withdrawn from the estate.
In the news, the Chairman of the estate, Bajo Osinubi, said the policemen had remained in the estate despite Sanwo-Olu’s intervention, adding that residents had been living in fear as the policemen move around with their weapons.
He added: “More than 50 armed policemen are still around and they are restless and didn’t go for Christmas and New Year. In the morning and evening, they carry their guns around and you can imagine what will happen if there is a disagreement between the group and residents and somebody was shot, what will be the reaction of the IGP.”
Also, the Legal Adviser, Magodo Residents Association, Tunji Abdulhameed, noted there was no specification to the area, property, location of the plots of land in the judgment they got in 1993.
He added: “But for you to execute even when you get a judgment, you must still apply for a writ of possession and without it, you cannot enforce the judgment. So, when they applied for the writ of possession and it was approved, we challenged it and that was the time the residents association joined the case as we were not part of the case before they got the judgment.
“The essence of the closure of the gate was to create awareness to the public and to draw the attention of the government as to what is happening in Magodo so that we can get protection from them.”
ALSO READ
