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Murder Of LFTZ Boss… Wake Up Call For Lagos Government, Security Agencies

By Chuks Nwanne
18 October 2015   |   5:51 am
DATELINE. Wednesday, October 14. The atmosphere at the Vaults and Gardens Cemetery in Obalende is somber. There are scores of government officials and security details, sorrowing family members, friends, colleagues and sympathisers. The wailing cortege of mourners is, however, dwarfed by the encouraging tributes paid the late Managing Director of Lekki Free Trade Zone, Tajudeen Disu…
Disu

Disu

DATELINE. Wednesday, October 14. The atmosphere at the Vaults and Gardens Cemetery in Obalende is somber. There are scores of government officials and security details, sorrowing family members, friends, colleagues and sympathisers. The wailing cortege of mourners is, however, dwarfed by the encouraging tributes paid the late Managing Director of Lekki Free Trade Zone, Tajudeen Disu at a reception held in the deceased honour at the City Hall, Onikan, later.

Perhaps, more consolatory words would be heard on Wednesday, October 21, at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, when the eight-day Fidau Prayers will hold.

The recent murder of Disu and three other people, as a result of a violent clash between youths of Okunraye community of Ibeju Lekki and mobile policemen, may have finally drawn the attention of the Lagos State government to the community that has been at ‘war’ with investors and government agencies over land.

Confirming the sad news, the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode said the late Disu was shot by assailants during an official visit to one of the villages within the zone in the early hours of Monday, urging the police to go all out and ensure that the perpetrators of the act were brought to book.

Describing the late Disu as a man committed to promoting the inflow of investment to Lagos State, Ambode, expressed concern over the motives of those behind the killing, urging residents to remain calm.

“This is a great concern and I have directed the Lagos State Commissioner of Police to investigate the cause of the death. The Commissioner of Police must do a thorough investigation to unravel the root cause of what has just happened because he was on a peaceful mission to that place,” the governor charged.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, has assured the people of the state that the Police had swung into action to ensure that the culprits were brought to book.

“We will do a diligent investigation. We will ensure that those people that are behind it are arrested. Not just the people we see on the road are perpetrators; there may be sponsors. We will go after these sponsors and I can assure you we will ensure the investigation is carried out as speedily as possible, as we make sure they are diligently prosecuted,” he assured.

Meanwhile, an Ebute-Metta Magistrate Court, on Tuesday, granted the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) leave to remand in custody, 17 suspects held in connection with the killing.

On the application for bail as reequested by the the counsel to the acussed, the Mgistrate said that, while section 264 empowers the Court to grant the leave to remand the suspects in custody, the same section does not empower the court to grant the suspects bai, since it lacks jurisdiction to hear murder case and cannot therefore consider the application of bail.

The Court ordered that the 17 suspects, Dele Ajayi; Alhaji Tajudeen Jegede; Saidi Akanni; Oyelade Taiwo; Sunday Bulus; Abiola Ogunsanwo; Okunaya Stephen; Taiwo Gafar; Agunrege Banji; Gafaru Ahmed; Moses Okoro; Talabi Quadri; Ipaye Oriyomi; Quadri Yusuf and Tunde Yusuf be remanded in police custody for a period of 30 days, pending further investigation by the Police. The Nigeria police had approached the court to grant them an order to remand the suspects in court until investigation into the murder case is completed.

It was gathered that the villagers had embarked on a protest against ‘forceful takeover’ of their land by the Lagos State government for the Lekki Free Zone Ltd, but were resisted by men of the Police. The ensuing crisis led to the killing of Disu and three other individuals, including a policeman.

However, in a previous investigation carried out by The Guardian last year, one of the people, who spoke, accused the LTFZ officials of encouraging Dangote to move ahead with construction, assuring the businessman that “nothing will happen.”

“Alhaji Dangote has also gained confidence that he would succeed in forcing us, the inhabitants, out of our homes and land without helping anybody to resettle, because he has the support of the Lagos State government,” the source said.

The aggrieved landowners accused the LTFZ of forcibly ejecting them, as well as, using mobile policemen and soldiers to harass them for resisting the perceived injustice. They claimed that police and soldiers had fired shots at people and homes during recent protests.

Some of the villagers had claimed that they discovered recently that some of the uniformed men, who forced them out of their homes and lands, were not real police officers but thugs armed and used by some politicians during elections.

“We will use every means to fight and recover our land,” one of the displaced residents vowed.

Even as the matter seemed to have been resolved, this is just one of those pockets of land dispute around the axis begging for government’s attention. Would Disu’s gruesome murder end the violence that has characterised the Lekki-Ajah axis of the state in recent times?

Maybe this is a wakeup call for the Lagos State government to conduct rigorous investigation on land transaction in these communities to avert further crisis. Ever since major construction work commenced around Ibeju Lekki corridors, the communities have been at loggerheads with the government and investors over land issues.

One of those tensed moments was the case of Dangote Refinery project, which saw displaced residents file a lawsuit to stop the construction.

THOUGH, the Free Trade Zone and other ancillary organs are yet to go full scale, the whole of Ibeju Lekki is already a beehive of expansion and commercial activities, in anticipation of the New Lagos.

There is no question as to whether there are efforts to reinvent Lagos and, perhaps, redefine its ancient borderlines. And with the Free Trade Zones under construction, with investors gradually looking towards the project, the possibility of a New Lagos now looks very feasible.

Indeed, dealers in building materials enjoy huge patronage in this area. During business hours, individuals, who are majorly retail contractors, move from one shop to the other in safety kits, buying the materials they need to deliver their jobs.

Just when many thought property development had exceeded its peak, Lekki corridor unveiled a new phase. Visitors can see this in the horde of construction workers that move around both morning and evening. It manifests in the cluster of construction material markets. And, most important, the surge of residential estates announces the arrival of Lekki as the emerging hub of the commercial city.

Fear Of Villagers
THE memory of Maroko is still fresh. The residents considered as squatters were evacuated to achieve Oniru Estate, otherwise known as Victoria Island Extension. There may not be another Maroko that stands in the way of New Lagos, but there are fears the same scenario could play up. In the heart of the massive construction work is Lakowe, a village that before now offered cover to young men and women, who moved to the coastal state to hustle. Awoyaya is another popular village tucked away in that part of the state.

Residents of these villages can feel the change in the Lekki urbanisation like the temperature. Not many of the youths that earn a living in the district were old enough to understand the Maroko eviction script in the early hours of July 14, 1990. But the older generations saw how it all happened. They also appreciate the fact that not many people are strong enough to stop bulldozers that are ordered by the government. Villagers here admitted they are aware that they might be asked to relocate one day.

The Economy Of Land
EVEN if the government decides to let the communities be, economic power could evict them someday. Across the length and breath of Ibeju Lekki, the heart of the New Lagos, the economy of land is realigning communities and recreating families. Daily, people are giving up family land for money. So, if the cold hand of government does not sack the community soon, the economy of land may eventually displace the current occupants.

The remote communities are already tasking the goodies they can get in place of land. Apart from the popular land transaction, the Ibeju Lekki chiefs and land speculators have introduced a strange deal that seems to bring back the memory of trade by barter. It is code name car-for-land transaction.

Findings suggest that the practice, which revolves around exchanging cars (which are mostly SUVs) for parcel of land as the name suggests, is as old as when developers started frolicking with traditional rulers in the community over land.

The exchange practice, which started with local chiefs, it was learnt, spread with youths also exchanging family land for vehicles, including buses they used for transportation. Till date, car for land is part the massive community land transaction in Ibeju Lekki. Lagos city dwellers that are related to the villagers take advantage of the scheme for pecuniary gains.

But it is the government of Lagos that is looked up to as the final arbiter in this endless and deadly battle over land.

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