Calm has been restored in Magodo Phase 2, a highbrow estate in Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos State, which was invaded by security agents and alleged land grabbers on Wednesday.The Police team, said to have been led by a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Kotangora, stormed the estate to execute a Supreme Court judgment delivered in 2012.
The apex court had agreed with both the high court and the Court of Appeal that the Lagos State should return 549 plots in the estate to the original owners of the area, the Adeyiga family.
Property owners, residents, business owners, operators and visitors were stranded early on Wednesday while the operation lasted.
The two gates of the estate were locked.
The Chairman of Magodo Residents Association Banjo Osinnubi said that the estate gates were closed by the association because suspected land grabbers, led by policemen invaded the estate to claim possession of part of the estate.
He explained that the state government had intervened in the matter and residents have been promised that such incident would not happen again.
The Supreme Court decision, delivered on 10th February, 2012 mandated the Lagos State government to return 549 plots to the original landowners of the area, which the government acquired over 38 years ago.
Some landlords said they bought their land from the Lagos State government and were issued certificates of occupancy, adding that they had not been aware of any litigation on the land.
The state government and members of the Shangisha Landlords Association have been locked in a legal tussle since 1982.
The worried residents have been told that the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Moyosore Onigbanjo will issue a statement on the matter soon.
Report and photo credit: The Nation
