To salvage their properties, some landlords pulled down their homes before the bulldozers got there.
It was sorrow never experienced by residents of the Atinporome community in Mowo-Badagry, Lagos. Tears flowed freely as the bulldozers later levelled their homes.
The development, police said on Monday, arose from residents' alleged encroachment on the land which they claimed, was acquired for the purpose of erecting an estate for their officers.
Policemen from OP MESA, an arm of the Lagos State Police Command, were deployed to forestall resistance. About three police vans were stationed at strategic locations.
A victim, Benneth Oyakhilome, said: "They (policemen) came on Monday at about 4am with 20 Hilux vans loaded with armed policemen and six Black Maria vehicles. They began demolition immediately without allowing us to rescue anything. The demolition lasted till about 6pm and resumed early today (Tuesday)."
There were heaps of personal effects at various locations in the community. A resident who pleaded for anonymity said: "When the news reached Tony (a hotel owner) that the police were already pulling down his new hotel, the man rushed down here. When he arrived, the hotel was already destroyed halfway. Curiously, the man just burst into uncontrollable laughter.
He then ordered for beer which he drank until he passed out and was rushed to a nearby hospital. We learnt that Tony is dead, but we are yet to confirm it."
One of the three bulldozers had already broken down, while the others continued to mow down the buildings one after the other.
Meanwhile, the embattled residents have urged government to compel the police to produce evidence that the land was sold to them.
It was learnt that when the threats of demolition by the police began in 2009, the residents sought help through the court and in 2011, they were granted an injunction over the land. To them, the Monday incident was a surprise.
The community's traditional ruler, Chief Joshua Medepo, appealed for government's intervention, adding that neither he nor his forefathers had any document showing that the land was sold to the police. He wondered why the police should resort to such action when the matter is still in court.
He said the notice which was sent to him by the police specified Agemowo/Agelado communities as the demolition points and not Atinporome.
A letter dated December 14, 2013 was addressed to Chief Medepo. It was titled: Encroachment on police land located at Agemowo/Agelado Mowo via Badagry. The letter was signed by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Admin) for the Commissioner of Police Lagos State Command, Ikeja.
Medepo said: "Government should help us find out who sold the land to it. I became Baale three years ago, but I never heard anything like that.
In 2009, these people came laying claim to this land; we went to court. Our lawyer and theirs were represented. In 2011, the court gave injunction, ordering them to stop the survey which they had started then. Later, they came with bulldozers, but we chased them away and we did not see them until now. We protested to the Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja and met with the governor and one of his aides claimed to be unaware of the police action."
"It was strange because we received no notice of the demolition although there had been a land ownership tussle. I was invited by Area K Command on Saturday with a notice that police are coming for demolition here. The letter given to that effect bore the name of two other communities – Agemowo and Agelado – which are on the opposite side of the expressway and not Atinporome."
Chairman of the Community Development Association (CDA), Mr Adu Charles, claimed that the police bought the land from Afemowo and Agelado, and not Atinporome. He said "because they discovered that that place was swampy, they shifted to a dry land here, not minding that the people who bought land were already occupying it." He corroborated the Baale on the notice, adding: "We went to the Urban and Rural Development office, the Secretariat, Alausa, where the commissioner denied knowledge of the letter. We also went to the Task Office in Ikeja, which also denounced the letter.
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