Residents of the Okun-Idasho near Ibeju-Lekki in Lagos State have accused the state government of setting violent police officers after them in a bid to force them to abandon their land. In interviews, numerous residents alleged that police officers fired many rounds of shots in their community yesterday.
Residents of the Okun-Idasho near Ibeju-Lekki in Lagos State have accused the state government of setting violent police officers after them in a bid to force them to abandon their land. In interviews, numerous residents alleged that police officers fired many rounds of shots in their community yesterday.
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“Most of us have been hiding in a nearby bush in the community for safety,” said one of the residents. He added that the policemen had arrested and taken away some women from the community.
Another resident, who identified himself as a retired police officer, told a correspondent of SaharaReporters that he had to run for dear life, claiming that the officers specifically wanted to kill him for resisting them.
The terrorized residents stated that the police were on a mission to dispossess them of their land. Many of them stated that the Lagos State Government was eyeing their area for use in the state’s Free Trade Zone. They added that they had been in court with the state government since 2010 to resolve ownership of the disputed land. They said the dispute over the land had begun in 2003.
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One resident said they had obtained a judgment in their favor, but that those pushing the Free Trade Zone were still contesting the issue. They accused the sponsors of the Free Trade Zone of not waiting for a final verdict from the courts before resorting to the use of police violence to drive them out of their residences.
The residents said the police started shooting at about 5.30 a.m. on Saturday, and continued for most of the day.
The alleged deployment of police violence comes in the wake of a similar development in Atimporomeh near Badagry, a community in Lagos State. Several residents of the area lost their lives when police went on a shooting spectacle aimed at driving out the residents.
One of the residents of Okun-Idasho asked, “Is the Lagos State government trying to tell us that we are not human beings because we are poor? Can they send police to go and start shooting in Ikoyi to drive the inhabitants out of their land? Or is it a crime not to have money in this country?”
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