Displaced Lagos residents beg Sanwo-Olu for resettlement
Displaced Residents of Oke-Egan Community, Ibeju-Lekki in Lagos State, have appealed to Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to intervene on their resettlement.
The displaced residents’ legal representative, Mr Hannibal Uwaifo, made the appeal at a news conference in Lagos on Friday.
Uwaifo, who is President, African Bar Association (AfBA), said that the resettlement was long overdue since their houses were demolished by some unknown individuals a year ago.
The displaced residents had claimed that over 400 houses were demolished in the early hours of Feb. 8, 2021 without any legal notice from the state government.
The displaced residents had, on Feb. 12, 2021, staged a peaceful protest to Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, and Lagos Assembly, demanding compensation for the demolition of their houses.
Uwaifo told newsmen that more than a year after the demolition took place, the state government was yet to come out with its stand on how to resettle the displaced residents.
The legal practitioner said the state government should let the residents know if they would be allocated with another land or resettled.
He said: “After the incident took place, we wrote a letter to the state governor and up till this moment, we haven’t received any positive response from the state government.
“We also wrote to the House of Assembly, as the arena where democracy flourishes and where people are represented particularly the community itself and they responded.
“They invited the community for hearing and the Speaker, Lagos Assembly, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, directed the House Committee on Lands to meet with the community leaders and we were present.
“Several times, the hearing took place the New Town Development Authority (NTDA) was invited, Ministry of Lands and several people from the government were invited.
“Questions were asked and we thought a solutions had arrived but at the end of it all, nothing has happened.
“So, as at today we expect that with such a horrendous situation, a decision should have been taken for a government that cares for his citizens,” he said.
Uwaifo said that some of these individuals had died, some were still in trauma, several of them are still homeless.
According to him, some of those residents borrow money to build their houses and are now in debt; they were taken to court by their creditors because of their inability to repay the debt.
The legal practitioner urged the state assembly to continue to work with the state government to address the situation so these individuals could know their fate.
