Blood bath was narrowly averted, early this morning, when land
speculators in company of thugs and armed policemern invaded
Kudeti street in the highbrow Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja, Lagos, forcefull
ejecting residents of the area.
The thugs who were wielding dangerous weapons and equipped with
painting materials were going from house to house armed with a
court order and forcing people out of their respective homes with
their property in the full glare of gun- toting policemen numbering
about 30.
Eyewitness account said the infuriated residents and landlords
trooped out enmasse and confronted the Invaders alleging that they
were flaunting fake court judgement with a view to forcefully
dispossess their hard- earned properties from them.
One of the residents who identified himself as a customs officer said
he had been living in the estate for over twenty years. He recalled
that in 1986, the same people invaded the estate with same fake
court judgement and embarked on massive destruction of properties
including forcing residents out of their homes.
According to him, the then commissioner of Police, Young Arebamen
who was alerted, swiftly took action and arrested some of them. "We
learned that when investigations to confirm the authenticity of their
court order was conducted by the police, it was discovered to be
fake. They were taken to court and jailed. We don't know what
happened to the policemen that accompanied them to carry out that
illegal mission. But we were very happy with the police boss for
coming to our aid.
Today, they are back again after the kingpins completed serving their
prison terms with the same fake court order and in company of such
a large number of policemen."
It was gathered that the thugs later left after they saw that the
residents were poised for action and the quick intervention of some
elders who pleaded for truce. They, however, left after pasting court
papers on the walls and gates of all the buildings there and defacing
the walls with inscriptions claiming that they have taken ownership.
Efforts to contact the Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu or
his spokesman, failed.
Details later.
Comments