Robbers take over abandoned ‘Abacha house’ in Lagos rural community

An abandoned 18-storey building located at Era town in Otto-Awori Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Lagos State, which originally was meant to be for the Federal Ministry of Agriculture Rural Development project, has now been taken over by armed robbers and ritualists.

Right from the entrance of the building, known as ‘Abacha house’, human skeletons are either drawn or engraved on the walls. The scary look of the inside of the house would always send shiver down the spine of a first timer to the place

Here, criminals of different shades gather to plot their next target while teenage girls are not allowed close to the area by their parents because many have been raped, community leaders disclosed.

Findings by our correspondent revealed that the construction of the 18-storey building which started in 1978 by the military administration of Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, is yet to be completed 43 years after.

What is now left is the concrete walls of the structure as most of the land acquired by the military administration of Obasanjo has been sold to unsuspecting members of the public by land grabbers.

Taiwo Fadile, a community leader in the area said robbers, ritualists as well as local fraudsters now use the uncompleted house to share their loot and also plan their attacks on unsuspecting members of the public.

Fadile said the house is tagged “Abacha house’ by members of the community because it is believed that only the strong and mighty could venture into the building which also has three floors below ground level that serves as basement.  Violent crimes as well as mystery activities are what go on inside.

He said, originally, the building rested on two acres of land located at Iyana Era, along Badagry Expressway, off Ijanikin, Lagos State.

“Going by the name, recent settlers believe that the building is allegedly owned by the late former Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha but it belongs to the Ministry of Agriculture. It is now an abandoned property that is only good for criminals,” he added.

Interestingly, not too far from the building are two white garment churches as well as a mosque.

Kayode Oludamilo, said most rape cases are traceable to activities around the house.

“In 2012, a security man (night guard), Moshood Afolabi, was found dead in that 18 storey building after four days of fruitless search by members of his family to locate his whereabouts. The leader of the vigilante group where he worked alerted both the police and other security agencies, who immediately started investigation and combing the area. After investigation, the police later revealed that the abandoned building had become a notorious hideout for criminals in the area,” he said.

Residents of the area, who pleaded not to be named for fear of the unknown, said that criminals normally shared their loot inside the uncompleted building.