Agidingbi residents protest S’Court’s judgment

Hundreds of residents from Agidingbi area of Lagos State, yesterday, stormed Lagos State House of Assembly to protest the judgment of the Supreme Court over a land dispute in the area.

Some of the buildings marked for demolition, according to the protesters, include Daily Times Newspaper, Coca-Cola Bottling Company premises, Addas Mall, banks and others.

The apex court had granted judgment in favour of the Akinole-Oshiun Family to take possession of 398 acres of land in the area.

The Akinole-Oshiun family, already had placed possession notices on all the affected properties and issued a seven-day notice to residents to vacate their homes.

The protesters, who marched from Agidingbi to House of Assembly complex in Alausa were armed with placards with various inscriptions such as There is no ancestral link between Akinole and Agidingbi Land, Land Grabbers are enemies of Lagos State.

Leader of Ojodu Legislative Arm, Wasiu Bolaji-Seidu, who is also a community leader in Agidingbi said the news of the possession order came to the community as a big surprise as no one from the community was served the court process before the court gave its verdict.

Bolaji-Seidu said: “Last Friday, they (judgment-creditor) brought a judgment and placed it on our houses and said they have taken over the entire Agidingbi land.

“The issue is that Agidingbi was not mentioned in the judgment; nobody from Agidingbi was part of the case and I don’t know how you will enforce a judgment against a person that was never part of the case.

“Agidingbi has been in existence for over 200 years ago. I was born and bred in Agidingbi; my forefathers were born and bred in Agidingbi and I don’t see any reason why somebody will just wake up and say they own the community.”

Also speaking, Baale of Agidingbi, Chief Ganiyu Haruna, said they were embarking on the peaceful protest to call the attention of government to the silent crisis that is brewing in the community.

Haruna said: “On Friday last week, we woke up to see people pasting possession order on our property and we don’t know these people. We have been living here for several years and the issue is we don’t know this family laying claim to ownership of our land.

Responding to the plea of the protesters, the House Deputy Majority Leader, Olumuyiwa Jimoh commended the protesters for conducting themselves peacefully, assuring that the House would look into their case.

Jimoh said: “Let me assure you that we are going to look into your petition without any fear or favour and I can assure you also that you will receive judgment at the end of the day.”