Naomi Gabriel —

Residents of Yegunda, Abomiti, and Eyin-Osa development areas, in the Free Trade Zone, Epe, Lagos State, have sought the intervention of the state Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in the alleged invasion of their land by men of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Enforcement Unit, aka Task Force, on the orders of one Murphy Adebare.

The three zones, made up of many villages, were resettled on the land by the Lagos State Government as compensation for the acquisition of acres of their land for a state project in 2007.

However, on November 16, 2022, some task force officials and hoodlums allegedly invaded the land and brutalised some of the residents.

In a statement signed by the Director of the Resettlement Committee, Chief Olayinka Yahya; Chairman, Eyin-Osa Resettlement Committee, Chief Olatunde Oluwo; and the Secretary of the Resettlement Committee, Chief Sade Takiu, the leaders called on Sanwo-Olu to bring the perpetrators of the alleged invasion to justice.

“We, members of the duly constituted Resettlement Committee of Eyin Osa hereby call on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Abiodun Alabi, to completely discountenance the deliberate misinformation, mischievous falsehood and outright lies being presently peddled by one Murphy Adebare and his cohorts in respect of the invasion of and encroachment on our land at Eyin Osa, Epe, by land grabbers, led by Murphy Adebare of Topaz Gardens Limited and his gang of hoodlums, who are working in criminal connivance with some corrupt and compromised elements of the Lagos State Task Force on Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences, the statement read.

“The assertion that traditional rulers, indigenes, baales and community leaders engaged the said Murphy is a tenuous concoction weaved to pull wool on the public’s face because no individual, group of persons and/or institution(s) can challenge our ownership and possessory rights on the land in question, save a judgment of court or revocation by the state government.

“It was consequent upon the said acquisition that an enumeration exercise was diligently conducted by the state government and the communities were thus resettled in the present location pursuant to the Land Use Act, Chapter L5, LFN 2004.

“The said Baale Pakiti Oloko Iberu Wasiu is unknown to the committee and has no right and/or ancestral nexus to Eyin Osa since he has no consanguinity with the communities and did not partake in the government supervised enumeration exercise.

“We call on the press to bring to bear the values of investigative journalism in this matter, because of the circumstances of this matter where the impostors and career land grabbers are not only engaged in thuggery, vandalism and inducement of corrupt officers to illegally station policemen on our land while construction is rapidly ongoing on the land, but are also involved in name-dropping; the said Semiu Olaiya Ayanda, is an 90 years old man who has confirmed that his name was used without his knowledge and consent, and that he did not have any piece of land at Eyin Osa.

“Therefore, we respectfully urge Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Inspector-General of Police, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police (FCIID), and the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, to intervene speedily in this matter to prevent might and force from taking the place of law and justice.

“The perpetrators of this dastardly and heinous act of assault, malicious damage, attempted murder, and unlawful use of the police to convert private property must be thoroughly investigated and the culprits brought to book.”

The Lagos task force had, in a statement, denied involvement in any land grabbing, saying its presence in any community was to ensure peace and order.

When contacted, Adebare said he had nothing to do with land invasion.

“The Eyin-Osa family are the original owners of the land and they sold it to me. After the land was sold to me, Tricko and Ibile invaded the place with thugs and hoodlums, who were armed, to chase us away from the land, he said.

“I haven’t been to the land for a while because I can’t access the land. When the land was bought, 23 families signed for me; I have the agreement, contract of sale and receipts. I have never gone to order task force to do anything”.