I built my demolished house with gratuity, weeps landlord

Landlords and residents of Iyeri community, located at Imota, Ikorodu area of Lagos State, have cried out over what they described as the illegal demolition of completed and uncompleted buildings in their communities.

The Iyeri community chairman, Mr Tony Aghedo, said that all the buildings in the community were demolished on April 4, 2018, by the Lagos State Building Control Agency.

According to them, they were shocked to see that the bulldozers, which pulled down their homes, were escorted by hundreds of policemen and soldiers.

The community chairman said that he was disallowed to evacuate his properties out of his house by the policemen and soldiers, leading to destruction of his property.

Tony, who noted that it was the state Ministry of Agriculture that directed the state Building Control Agency to demolish all buildings in the community, added that the community lawyer had already been alerted and that a protest had been held at the state government house.

Tony further said:  “It was a tragic day for us. Every landlord and landlady in the community bought their land from the Shupori family. We don’t know the genesis of this land. We only heard that there had been an agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture and the family in question, which was not supposed to affect us.”

In a voice filled with emotion, Tony cried out: “I built my now demolished house with my gratuity. I’m just a retired civil servant. There should at least be a compensation of a sort for us. We must not allow this ministry to intimidate us because we are very sure there has been a conspiracy.”

A landlady, who gave her name as Iyaafin Adekola, said: “On the day of the demolition, the policemen were power drunk due to the extent that phones of those who tried to defend their homes were snatched and smashed.”

Iyaafin, a petty trader, said that she was able to raise money, buy and built her now demolished house by working to the bones.

She was said to have collapsed when bulldozers rode through the walls of her two bedroom apartment, pulling everything to the grounds.

She added: “The next place I found myself after witnessing the horrible incident was in the hospital. I had received two drips. My children and I, live in an uncompleted building.”

Comfort Oladeji, 57, implored the government to compensate the affected community members. Oladeji said that it took her 10 years to build her house, which, was demolished within seconds.

The community secretary, Mustapha Akeem, said that necessary actions had been taken, stressing that those who were affected had staged a protest to the Lagos State House of Assembly and other vital places.

He added: “I’m sad because I’m a civil servant, working under the Lagos State Government. We have staged a protest and we are happy that the governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has given us an appointment date. We wished to be compensated.”