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The affected houses, 17 in total, were demolished two years ago allegedly by officials of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, claiming a firm has secured approval from the state government to build a jetty, hotels and blocks of flats on the disputed land.
Speaking on behalf of the affected residents, Victor Armstrong lamented that two years after, they are still in limbo after having lost billions of Naira and fallen victims of a sophisticated land grabbing syndicate.
“We have decided to seek redress in the court of law because all efforts to get this government to listen to us have failed. We reported the matter to the Ministry of Physical Planning, wrote several petitions to the governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, and also led a protest to the governor’s office without any response.”
He stated further that residents approached the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Adeniji Kazeem, and also sought government intervention on the issue at the Citizens Mediation Centre, but were ignored based on “instruction from above.”
Armstrong said though the case is headed for the courts, they still want the governor-elect to intervene and “do the right thing by giving us our lands and homes back.”
He revealed that some of the residents have developed life threatening illnesses while a few have passed on in the course of pursuing justice and pleaded that their struggles must not end in vain.
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