The atmosphere at Magodo Estate, Lagos became charged Wednesday when some people suspected to be land grabbers invaded the highbrow area with some policemen to assist them in the forceful takeover of some property in the estate.
Some residents of the estate, who got wind of the action, were said to have mobilised themselves quickly and barred the group from entering the estate.
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It was learnt that the land grabbers had arrived at the estate gate around 8:30am with two bulldozers to carry out the demolition of some property on the land they claimed belonged to them.
The residents quickly ordered their security men to lock the main gate into the estate.
The Legal Adviser to Magodo Residents Association, Tunji Abdulhameed, said the suspected land grabbers claimed they had a court’s judgement on the property but could not produce the paper when confronted.
He said, “I asked what they were doing here and the police said they were trying to enforce a judgment.
“I asked for a copy of the judgment but no document was shown to me. What they showed was a newspaper publication, which they did themselves to inform the world that they are the owners of the property.
“They had a judgment in 1993 and as far as I am concerned, the judgment was not properly captured.
“The judgment said the government should allocate 549 plots to them with no specification to the area, property, location of the plots of land; in fact, there was nothing to ascertain the property they were talking about,” he added.
One of the residents, Michael Aremide, said some residents who participated in the blockage were arrested.
Text messages and calls to the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Adekunle Ajisebutu, were not answered or replied.
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