Why It’s Wrong To Link Asiwaju Bola Tinubu To Magodo Land Tussle
Information at the disposal of highstreet.ng has shown that it is very wrong to link Asiwaju Tinubu to the land ownership tussle going on in Magodo Phase 2 in Shangisha area of Lagos State.
Several land grabbers accompanied by armed policemen stormed Magodo Phase 2 to forcefully take back parcels of land reportedly handed back to the “rightful owners” following a ruling of the supreme court.
The ugly incident that saw the estate residents forming a human shield at the main entrance transpired yesterday, Tuesday, December 21, 2021.
But those who are familiar with how the whole thing started and resulted in a court judgment in favour of the “rightful owners” in 1993 maintained Asiwaju Tinubu is not in any way connected to the issue.
Asiwaju Tinubu, a national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), whose yet to be declared presidential ambition is currently enjoying support from a number of groups across the country, was the governor of Lagos state between 1999 and 2007.
“The military government acquired over 500 plots of land from individuals who bought from landowners and allocated it to civil servants among other individuals.
The landlords approached the court and got a judgment from the high court. The government appealed the judgment and lost both at the appeal court and Supreme Court”, information pieced together by highstreet.ng revealed.
In a chat with Punch, The Legal Adviser, Magodo Residents Association, Tunji Abdulhameed, who confirmed that it truly started 1993 – six years before Asiwaju Tinubu became governor said “They came around 1pm yesterday; The land grabbers invaded the estate and the police gave them backing. I asked what they were doing here and the police said they are trying to enforce judgment.
“I asked for a copy of the judgment but no document was shown to me. What they showed was a newspaper publication which they did themselves to inform the world that they are the owner of the property.
“They had a judgment in 1993 and as far as I am concerned the judgment was not properly captured. The judgment said the government should allocate 549 plots to them with no specification to the area, property, location of the plots of land; in fact, there was nothing to ascertain the property they were talking about.
“The resident associations had a meeting in the evening and thereafter, we just saw a bulldozer at the front of our gate. The police didn’t go and were with them, the bulldozer is still at the other gate. That was why we closed the gate.
“We don’t know whether we are going to open the gate because we don’t know their plan as the land grabbers and policemen are still around. They have a motive they want to achieve; I think the purpose is to use the bulldozer to destroy property.”
Also, responses of the Chairman, Board of Trustees, Magodo Residents Association, Professor Ayodele Ogunye to questions by punch newspaper further confirmed what happened yesterday, as a matter of fact, started before the advent of Asiwaju Tinubu’s administration.
He said, “I have been living here since 1992 but we have been having problems with land grabbers until this case became enlarged. It is true that the supreme court had given judgment in the favor of the Adeyiga Family; they are to be giving 549 plots but that judgment did not say 549 plots in Magodo.
“Hence, the Lagos State Government allocated plots of land to them along Badagry and Ibeju Lekki. So far, about 300 of them have agreed to take those plots and these people continue to harass us. I have been to Alagbon three times this year on this issue.
“Yesterday, in the morning, these people besieged us; they said they were bailiffs trying to enforce the supreme court judgment. They are not Lagos State Government bailiff, if they were, they will wear their jackets. They went to hire some area boys to come in as bailiff.
“I spoke with the senior officer that led them and he said he got instruction from the top to follow them. We told them to show us the judgment they are enforcing, and they showed our lawyer a press release. Press release is not a court judgment or court instruction that they should bombard us.
“They were marking houses including houses we have been living together since 1992. We gathered that the government was not informed yesterday, how could they come into a government estate without clearance from the governor, the governor said he is not aware about this siege.”
