Court orders Sanwo-Olu to halt relocation of Okobaba sawmill, traders

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos State has ordered the state government to stop the planned relocation of timber dealers from the Okobaba Foreshore in Ebute-Metta, Lagos.

The court’s ruling comes after the traders challenged the state government’s plan to relocate them to Agbowa-Ikosi without providing a suitable alternative location.

The traders, who have occupied the Foreshore since 1950s, said the eviction would lead to significant losses and threaten their livelihoods.

They claimed that their forceful eviction was to pave the way for the allocation of their land and places of occupation to strange developers, who were never part of the efforts made to develop the Okobaba Foreshore, spanning decades of improvement upon the land.

Though the state government claimed that it had an alternative location for the plaintiffs in Agbowa-Ikosi and developed as a permanent site, the plaintiffs said they had visited the said location and discovered that it was not developed, and were no allocations suitable for their business.

They, therefore, sought an order of injunction to restrain the state government from implementing their forceful eviction without developing the alternative location.

Their counsel, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), informed the court that Lagos State is seeking to forcefully evict the plaintiffs whilst the suit is still pending in court.

He narrated several efforts made to reach out to the defendant, all of which have not yielded fruitful results.

He, therefore, applied for an order to stop the forceful eviction of the plaintiffs from the Okobaba Foreshore.
Adegboruwa hailed the court’s decision as a victory for the rule of law and the rights of the affected traders.

“The government must respect the court’s order and find a solution that works for everyone, ” he said.

Meanwhile, despite the court’s order, the traders claimed the government had continued to harass and intimidate them by stopping all timber logs from getting to Lagos at the Okobaba Foreshore, and had further arrested and detained the plaintiffs through its task force.

They, therefore, called on governor to intervene and respect the court’s directive.

The case was adjourned to October 2, 2024, with the Attorney General of Lagos State directed to report compliance with the court’s order.