Residents of Ilameja community in Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Area of Lagos State have called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to take urgent steps against alleged attacks by land grabbers on the community.
The residents, who made the call at a news conference on Saturday in Lagos, said the persistent attacks on the community had left them with sad tales.
A resident, Tunji Balogun, said constant attacks by land grabbers had brought pains and sorrow to many residents.
Balogun, also the Project Director, Social Justice and Human Rights Group, a non governmental organisation, called on the state government and security agencies to act without delay to protect lives in the community.
He said: “We are calling on Governor Sanwo-Olu and IGP Egbetokun and other security agencies to deliver us from these attacks by land grabbers.
“Government should swiftly intervene to halt these constant attacks on our people, willful destruction of properties, forceful encroachment by these land grabbers.
“We are law-abiding and responsible people.
“We do not want a situation where the matter will result in clashes in the community.”
Balogun alleged that the land grabbers always attacked people working on building sites, saying many had been hospitalised owing to the injuries sustained.
He added: “We have so many cases of injured victims and the case of late Sodiq Kolapo, an innocent bricklayer who was shot while working as a labourer on a building site.
“He was not only killed, his body was taken away by the land grabbers.
“Other victims like Samusideen Oluwo and Sunday Olabayo are still nursing injuries sustained during attacks on site.
“We want Governor Sanwo-Olu to urgently come to our rescue before the situation becomes worse.”
Joke Kolapo, the widow of the bricklayer, said things had been difficult for her and the children since her husband was killed.
Kolapo said her husband was allegedly attacked by land grabbers at a construction site in the community, adding that the assailants also took his body away.
He said: “He was just working as a bricklayer, a labourer for that matter at the site, not even a native of the land.
“I was expecting my husband to come home on that particular day and I waited till midnight, but I didn’t see him.
“I tried his line several times, it was not reachable.
“I later went to his friend who introduced him to the job and asked for his whereabouts.
“He told me that they were attacked by the land grabbers and my husband had been shot dead and his body taken away.
“I was shocked hearing that from him and I cried like a baby.
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“Up till now, I have not seen my husband’s body or his burial ground.
“I am a nursing mother with three children.
“I want the government to intervene and come to my aid and the community.”
Another resident, Wale Adeola, said many residents of the community had been living in fear owing to the problem.
