Power tussle turns ugly in Lagos community


…AIG Adegoke sues for peace

A brewing storm is unfolding in Divine Homes estate, in the Ajah area of Lagos, where residents are crying foul over alleged harassment and intimidation tactics employed by a resident accused of seeking to force himself on them as the estate’s chairman.

The accused resident (names withheld) did not meet the qualifications for the position of chairman but had allegedly been using policemen from Zone 2 to bully and harass members of the estate’s executive committee for years.

Addressing journalists yesterday, members of Divine Homes Community Development Area (CDA) said the intervention of the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 2 saved what would have caused a breach of peace in the tranquil community.

Chairman of the estate, Adepoju Abiodun, said the estate had been self-managed for years, with residents contributing to its development, until a recent attempt by an individual to take over the estate through the back door threw the entire community into chaos.

According to him, “No one can bully us into giving up control of the estate. We are law-abiding citizens who demand respect for the law. We urge the Nigeria Police Force and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to ensure that their personnel respect the law and do not allow anyone to take over our estate through illegal means.”

In his remarks, another resident, Mr. Obioha Okengwu, explained that the criteria to contest as Chairman of the estate was first, to be a landlord and not a tenant in the estate.

He said, “We have a resident who wants to take the back door to become the chairman of the estate, without being a landlord, as stipulated in the estate’s constitution. He would use policemen from Zone 2 to harass the executive committee of this estate. He also brought Mobile policemen on many occasions.
“At times, he would claim he was kidnapped and then pick up any executive committee member and people he met in the street, harassing them and taking them to Zone 2. He also claimed that he was extorted and assaulted. On many occasions, he had gone to various police formations to make fictitious claims against residents of the estate.”

Reeling out the demands of the executives, he said, “We want the present AIG Zone 2, who has shown professionalism so far, to keep the pact he made and maintain the professionalism of his policemen. Unfortunately, we didn’t experience this level of professionalism with past AIGs.”

Continuing, he said, “During our last meeting with the current AIG, he stated that all parties should maintain the status quo until the cases are determined in court.”
Corroborating claims that the accused tenant was not a landlord, one of the residents, Mrs. Adanne Okunola, claimed to be the landlady of the alleged controversial tenant. According to her, “My property, a house located at Number 3, Akinwale Shittu, Divine Homes, has been rented to a tenant (names withheld) for a one-year period. However, he is now challenging my ownership of the property and has taken me to court after swearing an affidavit of ownership of my land.”


The matter, as gathered, was still in court.

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Some of the residents who were aggrieved at the development staged a peaceful protest at the estate gate to resist further harassment by security men hired by one of them. One of them, Mr. Nnamdi Agbakogba, who could not hide his consternation over the whole matter, expressed bewilderment at the audacity of the individual, stressing that democracy in Nigeria cannot accommodate such impunity.

However, sources at the Zone 2 Command informed Vanguard that immediately news of alleged harassment by policemen from the zone reached AIG Adegoke, he detailed a team of policemen led by a Deputy Commissioner of Police to carry out a discreet investigation on the ongoing situation in the estate. AIG Adegoke was said to have immediately ordered some policemen who were stationed at the estate gate to leave and also met with all parties, where he sued for peace

Vanguard

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