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Police officer defies Sanwo-Olu over Magodo Estate land tussle

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Lagos reaches agreement with Shangisha Landlords over Magodo Estate

 

The constitutional provision of the governor as chief security officer of a state was put to question Tuesday, when a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) defied a direct order by the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to withdraw his men from the Magodo Phase II Estate, Lagos, where they have continued to lay siege.

Armed policemen, said to be acting on the instruction of the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, a fortnight ago evaded Magodo Phase II Estate following planned demolition of property in the estate based on a Supreme Court judgment.

The siege on the estate was resisted by landlords and residents, who protested and trooped out en-mass to prevent forceful takeover or demolition of their properties.

Sanwo-Olu, however, on Tuesday physically intervened in the Magodo land tussle, when he personally visited the estate.

He called on all the parties involved to stand down pending complete resolution of the crisis. He also invited affected families, residents and other stakeholders to a meeting in his office at Lagos House, Ikeja, on Wednesday, 11 am, for peaceful resolutions.

Speaking to journalists and residents of the estate during his visit, Sanwo-Olu who was accompanied by his cabinet members and the Lagos State Police Commissioner, Hakeem Odumosu, said the matter called for proper deliberation in the interest of peace.

The governor also assured residents that nobody would be harassed or any property be pulled down pending the outcome of his meeting with all the parties involved.

He said: “I have spoken extensively with the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General of the Federation, and we have resolved all of the issues. So, what we would see is that there is going to be a total stand down. Tomorrow (Wednesday), we will be inviting the representatives of the judgment creditors.

“We have actually started a committee meeting, but I want to invite them (Judgment creditors) again officially to my office, tomorrow by 11 a.m., to come over with two or three of their representatives. The state government representatives will be there, the residents’ association will be there, and the police will also be there. So, whatever it is that must have brought about all these troubles and heartaches will need to be brought there.

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“We will all go through every line of it and we will come to an amicable resolution. So, I want everyone to please ensure that peace will be restored to the estate. I want all of our citizens to go about their lawful businesses knowing fully well that nobody will be harassed or any property will be trampled upon pending all of these conversations.

“We will have an extended conversation tomorrow so that we can bring this to final closure. So, I want to ask the residents, the executives, don’t take the laws into your hands. Just go back home peacefully. The policemen have been recalled back. They would be here and nothing would happen; and tomorrow, even the judgment creditors, would also come to meet with us. They claimed that the people that we met here were not their full representatives.”

Meanwhile, prior to his address to journalists and residents of the estate, the governor and his team had visited the police station within the estate, where he was received by one CSP Abimbola Oyewole, who told him that his team had been sent from Abuja to execute the Supreme Court judgment on the Magodo Phase II properties.

After the police team leader could not provide the copy of the said judgment as demanded by the governor, Sanwo-Olu ordered that the armed policemen deactivate their operation and leave Lagos in the interest of peace.

He told the police officers that the matter was between the Lagos State government and the judgment creditor.

“It is a case between the residents of Lagos and the supposed people, not the residents. They have nothing to do with the residents. Please, can you call your superior now in Abuja that the state governor is here standing in front of you and I am the Chief Security Officer and that I want you to leave now and that you have no business in my state, that I want you to disengage now?” Sanwo-Olu had declared.

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The CSP, however, replied: “I am here on the instruction of the Inspector General of Police through the AGF. I am too small or too low to call them. Your Excellency sir, you can call them sir.”

Asked of the number of policemen at the estate, the defiant leader of the police team told the governor, “My men are here; they are all over the place, I cannot precisely tell you how many we are. For security purpose, I cannot tell you the number.”

RELIABLESOURCENG.COM learnt that it was after this encounter that Sanwo-Olu now placed phone calls to the authorities in Abuja, on whose order the armed policemen were said to have been deployed to the estate.

The governor’s visit also facilitated the release of about 20 residents who were arrested earlier by the police.

According to residents of the estate, those arrested were detained by the police in what they described as an unlawful invasion of their properties, saying most of the property owners were locked up in the name of the enforcement of the Supreme Court verdict.

Some of the residents who spoke to journalists commended the governor for coming to their rescue and showing leadership as the Chief Security Officer of the state.

Some members of a family had come to execute the Supreme Court judgment on the ownership of the land where hundreds of properties were built. The properties were marked with red, brown, and blue inks to inscribe ‘ID/795/88 Possession Taken Today 21/12/21 by Court Order’.

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