Emmanuel Thomas, Lagos
July 21, 2015 – Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has ordered the Lagos State Taskforce on Environmental Sanitation and Special Offence to recover 250 acres of land in Gberigbe, Ikorodu, Lagos allegedly taken over by a notorious land grabber.
We were informed that the land was leased to Shoreman Agro for farming in the early 80’s by the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperative to boost food production in the state but was violently taken over by one Lamina popularly called Sir Kay who is said to have sold the land after pulling down over 12,000 palm tree in the farm.
A representative of Shoreman Agro, who craved anonymity, said staff of the farm were forcefully sent away from the farm by Lamina, who claimed to be working for some land grabbers.
“We got that land between 1982 and 1983 we got the necessary document and approval from the state government and the families who also claimed ownership of the land. The land was a jungle when we started developing it for agricultural purposes. Our farm won the best farmer of the Year in 1989, both in the state and federal.
“The land grabbers led by Lamina, also known as Sir Kay, invaded and destroyed our farms, tractors and other facilities. About 12, 000 palm trees were also destroyed while our workers were chased away by his thugs,” he said.
According to him, the man started acquiring the land in 2005 when one of the lawyers, who was signatory to the acquisition of the land passed on.
Confirming Ambode’s directive, Chairman of the Task Force, Mr Akeem Adedeji said that the state government would not condone illegal eviction of rightful landlords from their properties by some miscreants, adding that the era landgrabing activies in Lagos was over.
In line with the governor’s directive, Adedeji said that the agency will storm the land in question and send all occupants packing.
“Sequel to his passion to make life easy for every citizen, the Governor has told us to follow due process in our enforcement. So, we will go to the land to serve quit notice to whoever is occupying the land. The occupant will be served papers, the structures found on the land will be marked, after which we will recover the land. The essence is to enable them present their documents, if indeed they have any.
“They will be notified, but the land will be recover back to the government in accordance with the Governor’s directive,” Adedeji added.
