Lagos State Government Unjustly Demolish Over 200 Houses At Iwaya

Описание: Not fewer than 200 houses were demolished at Iwaya Abete, Lagos, under the directives of the Lagos State Government. Every building at the Balogun extension of Iwaya, Yaba, was grounded for reason not clear to residents.
Residents of Iwaya described the demolition as unjust because no prior notice was given to them before the demolitions took place. Residents had no time to neither relocate nor take their properties out of their homes before the demolitions began. This caused a lot of uproar and confusion in the Iwaya community - people were forced to abandon a lot of their properties under the wreckages.
Condemning the manner at which the demolition took place, one of the residents who simply introduced himself as Ademola said the action had hit residents of the area unexpectedly. He also alleged that the Lagos State Government has a secret intention for demolishing the community.
“The demolition came suddenly, nobody was prepared for it, we couldn’t move out our properties before the demolition started. We cannot point to anything in particular that led to the demolition but what we know is that government has their motive for carrying out this demolition today.”
Speaking with our correspondent who visited the scene, one of the residents accused Lagos State Governor of not being people-friendly and only concerned about making wealth for himself and his cronies.
“What happened here today showed that the government has no care and is not concerned of the welfare of its citizens. We have been told some very influential people who have money want to turn this place to an estate through rendering thousands of people homeless. This was impromptu, nobody was notified, they just came and started to destroy people’s properties.”
He further said that the demolition will only aggravate poverty level in the country.
Honourable Onikan Gbenga Adebiyi, a former councilor in Iwaya whose house was among the demolished buildings revealed that the people will fight for their rights by proceeding to court. “We will go to court to fight for our rights and entitlements, because there was no due notice to residents regarding the demolition. Houses were demolished and people were being harassed during the demolition process.”
Residents of Iwaya Abete urged international organizations to intervene in the matter by ensuring people are well compensated for loss of their properties. They also called on Governor Ambode to show empathy and properly relocate them amidst the unjust demolitions.