This move is part of a larger controversy surrounding the estate, with residents accusing the government of contempt of court due to ongoing legal proceedings related to the demolition.
Residents of Jakande Housing Estate in Lagos have vowed to resist the state government's plans to demolish their homes.
The residents, who own houses in Phase I-IV of the estate, also known as Dolphin Estate, made their stance clear after officials from the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) marked their homes as "distressed" and threatened demolition.
This move is part of a larger controversy surrounding the estate, with residents accusing the government of contempt of court due to ongoing legal proceedings related to the demolition.
The Lagos State Government had previously faced criticism for its handling of demolitions in the area. In 2022, lawmakers summoned government officials and landowners to discuss allegations of planned demolitions in Jakande Estate.
Residents had expressed concerns about the potential displacement of long-time residents, many of whom are elderly and have lived in the estate since its development.
Speaking with SaharaReporters, one of the residents of the estate, Mr. Kola Bello, said they had been given a form to fill, noting that they questioned the origin of the form as there was no clear indication that it originated from any government agency.
Bello, who also said that the executives of the estate and the state government have had several meetings, said, “We moved into this area over 40 years ago - since 1983 - and we have been living here peacefully without any problem.
“But from time to time, we have been receiving harassment from the government. It is like they are interested in taking over our property.
“We have resisted it several times. The latest antics were that they brought some forms for us to fill. We were agitated and they invited us to a meeting.
“At the meeting, we highlighted that the form they gave to us to fill has no indication of which office the form came from. They just put Lagos State Government. Nothing like the Office of the Attorney General, Ministry of Land, Land Use Agency or anything. They just brought forms and asked us to fill.
“But since they said they are the government, we filled the form for them, only for them to come last night (Tuesday, January 28) and put this ‘distressed’ mark on our solid buildings, that people should quit. There is nothing wrong with our buildings.
“Virtually all of us have paid fully for these houses. They even asked us to do a deed of sublease to certify the ownership of our buildings, which we did and have our documents. Despite that, they are still interested in them.
“We were told the governor is interested in developing the estate to be a better place, and we welcomed that but we took them to court and our stand is that if the government is rebuilding this place, the government must give us where to stay while rebuilding the place. When it finishes the rebuilding, it must return us to our houses because we are bonafide owners of this place. We paid for it.
“Some of us are in our retirement age and we bought these houses with the hope that when we grow old, we will not have any problem with any landlord. For the government to now become the real problem is a challenge and we must live up to it and we have said that we will not allow them to take over our property.
“Whatever they want to do, they must honour our entitlement to this place. We still have our deed of sublease which entitles us to this property.
“We want the people of this country to know that efforts of the government to take over our property will be resisted. We will not allow them to take over this property because it belongs to us. We have paid for it.”
When questioned about the government's rationale for labeling the houses as “distressed,” which typically implies a significant issue necessitating immediate attention and the evacuation of residents, Bello explained that the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) provided no specific reason.
Instead, it appears that some property owners may want to sell their houses, and the marking serves to deter potential buyers.
He said, “No reason was given but our executives called them on Wednesday morning and when they came, they said that it is not as if they want to demolish the houses but to wade off some people that want to sell their houses and people that want to buy the houses. That is what they said this morning.
“But that is wrong. If anyone wants to sell his house, or anyone wants to buy a house, he is entitled to sell or buy it. Why should the government be involved in that? We told them they should not have done that.
“Based on that, they said they will clean off the marks but we are making this public so that in future when they come again, we will refer them to this agreement.”
When asked if the court has ruled that the government should let them be, Bello said, “According to our executives, the government is trying for us to settle out of court but we insisted that we cannot just withdraw the case because they made promises.”
He continued, “We have not withdrawn the case and they are already doing this. If we withdraw the case from court, what will they do? In fact, what they have done is prejudice because the case is still in court and they are doing this. It is wrong for them to have taken this step.”
Another resident and house owner in the estate, Erotola Joseph, corroborated Bello’s account, confirming that he has been living in the estate since 1983 and that the buildings have been well maintained and recently repainted.
“So, I wonder what warranted putting ‘distressed’ on these buildings. It is embarrassing because the last time they met with us, they told us that they were going to give us another place where we would move into. And that they would not just come and demolish the place suddenly.
“They must get another place on the island for us before moving us out of this place. I was surprised this morning when I saw they have put ‘distressed’ on my building that was recently repainted.
“I don’t know who and who are behind this but the governor must know about it. The government must stand on the promise they made to us the last time which is that they would get another place ready for us and move us from here to that place, not rendering us homeless.
“Let the governor wade into this matter because I’m not sure that the governor is aware of what is happening now. We voted for him; he should not just treat us like nobodies.”
Also speaking with SaharaRepoorters, a female resident and house owner, Ashabi, who has lived in the house she inherited from her father in the estate for 40 years, said the problem is that they don’t understand what the problem is.
She said, “We can’t even say (what is happening) because they are already in court with the state government. They came yesterday and said that they want to demolish the buildings from Phase I-IV.
“What is our offence? They should please answer. They can't demolish the buildings because we are not owing anybody. Before they can demolish any building here, they must provide us where we will stay. But they cannot take us to Ikorodu. We don’t want Ikorodu, let them hear it clearly. They can never take us to Ikorodu because we don’t know anybody in Ikorodu.
“Let them build where they will take us to, simple. I have lived here for 40 years. It is my father’s house. Jakande built this place for us when he was the governor and another governor wants to demolish it.
“He (Jakande) spent four years building this place for us, and the buildings cannot collapse. So, the government must not demolish these buildings. It is very simple, before they can demolish this place, they must provide another place for us but not Ikorodu.”