Following the continuous presence of armed policemen in Magodo Estate Phase II over an invasion last month and the planned demolition of properties, residents this morning staged a protest.
Recall that in December 2021, a group of armed police officers stormed the estate after a family in Lagos state said they had a court injunction to reclaim the land in which some of the houses were built.
Consequently, again, on Tuesday, January 4, 2022 Executives of the Magodo Residents Association, MRA, ordered the two main gates leading into the estate shut inorder to prevent any form of invasion.
The Lagos state government described the invasion as unwarranted and vowed to prosecute all those involved. However, since the invasion in December, the police officers have not been drafted out of the estate.
The protesting residents say it is unacceptable for the armed police officers to continue to lay siege in their environment and pleaded with the government of Lagos state to intervene
Speaking during the protest the Chairman of Magodo Residents’ Association, Bajo Osinubi, said
“We called our people out to protest this morning over 50 policemen living within the estate. We want the police out of our estate. There are no cases of kidnapping, rioting, but why are they still here? We want them out of our estate.
“We want to live in peace. This is a business between the Lagos State government and the Adeyiga family. We are under siege; the police have been here for two weeks, they came in December to take possession of properties on behalf of Adeyiga family and others.
“Since then, we’ve gotten in touch with prominent personalities to intervene and get the police off our estate. We are victims, even inside our own homes. The police have been here. They are very restless.
“Just imagine there is an altercation between a resident and the police. The easiest way to avoid any such scenario is to detach the police officers back to Abuja.
“We’ve allowed people to go out, but we are protesting this morning to let the world know what’s going. We are supposed to be at work, but we want the whole world to know what’s happening at Magodo.
“The governor spoke with me yesterday (Monday), and he said he’s on top of it. He has promised to address the situation.
“The Commissioner of Police last week sent the DCP Ops to supervise the withdrawal of troops but they claimed they are yet to get signal. We learned the police were drafted from Abuja.
“Our immediate concern is to get the police out of the estate for us to leave in peace. We need the government to do the needful to get the family off our neck. About four to five years ago, they did it, and now again this year, they want to do it.”
