Residents cry for help as Lagos officials demolish homes

Residents of Ipakere at Noforija in the Ibeju Lekki Local Government Area of Lagos State are seeking the state government’s intervention over an ongoing demolition in their community.

Speaking with PUNCH Metro on Wednesday, the residents said this was being carried out by officials of the New Town Development Authority.

It was gathered that the officials stormed the area on Thursday, October 31, with armed security operatives and started to pull down some residential buildings.

The officials were also said to have ignored the appeal of the residents who sought to know the reason for the exercise.

The chairman of the Community Development Association in Ipakere, Bolarinwa Oluwasegun, said efforts to prevent them from pulling down the buildings also proved abortive.

He said, “On May 5, 2024, some officials of the state government accompanied by armed policemen entered our communities and started to mark some of the buildings. We approached them and asked why they were marking the buildings but they declined response before eventually leaving that day.

“We have been here for over 12 years and nobody disturbed us and we have been living peacefully. They later returned in August and told us to evacuate the area. It was in the process that we discovered that they were officials of the New Town Development Authority.

“After that, we went to their office in Ikeja. When we got there, we were asked to write a letter and provide evidence. To our surprise, they came again on October 30 and started damaging some of the buildings in our community with hammers. They came in full force the following day and started demolishing our buildings.”

Oluwasegun further stated that a lawmaker who visited them after the demolition claimed that the state government was not aware of the exercise.

He said the incident had impacted the health of some owners of the demolished buildings, while some had been rendered homeless.

In a video sent to our correspondent, the houses were seen levelled to the ground, while some were partially demolished.

Another resident, Olasupo Johnson, said he ensured that his land was free from government acquisition before he built a house on it.

“Before I built my house, I charted it and did a survey and confirmed that it was free from government acquisition. I did my due diligence which the state government required from us. Some of us rushed down here from our places of work when we were told they had started demolishing our houses. I paid my tax regularly,” he noted.

While lamenting the development, a widow who was also affected by the incident, Osunwemimo Omitutu, said she and her six children had no place to lay their heads after their house was demolished.

She however appealed to the state government to come to her aid.

“Some widows own parts of the buildings that were demolished and I am one of them. Most of us gathered money from our little earnings to build the houses. We don’t have anywhere to go. Some people have died while some were hospitalised as a result of this incident,” she added.

The Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso, could not be reached for comments as calls made to his phone did not connect. A text message sent to him had yet to be replied to as of the time this report was filed.