January 04, (THEWILL) – Residents of Magodo Phase II Estate in Lagos, on Tuesday morning staged a protest against the presence of armed policemen numbering over 50 on the estate.
The security siege, the Chairman of Magodo Residents’ Association, Bajo Osinubi said, had been for two weeks, alleging that they came to “take possession of properties on behalf of Adeyiga family and others”.
THEWILL gathered that the management early Tuesday, shut the two gates leading into the estate, a development that affected human and vehicular movement in the Estate.
People were allowed to exit but were restricted from entering. This led to residents holding placards to express their displeasure, and querying the presence of the policemen who were said to have been in the estate since last month.
Some of the inscriptions on placards read: “Lagos Attorney-General prosecute those involved in illegal invasion of Magodo Phase 2 you promised”, “Magodo Phase 2 has been under siege of the IGP’s anti-riot police squad for three weeks”.
Osinubi, while speaking with newsmen, said: “We called our people out to protest this morning. Over 50 policemen are living within the estate. We want the police out of our estate.
“There are no cases of kidnapping, rioting, but why are they still here? We want them out of our estate. We want to live in peace. This is a business between Lagos State government and the Adeyiga family.
“We are under siege; the police have been here for two weeks, they came in December to take possession of properties on behalf of Adeyiga family and others.
“Since then, we’ve gotten in touch with prominent personalities to intervene and get the police off our estate. We are victims, even inside our own homes. The police have been here. They are very restless.
“Just imagine there is an altercation between a resident and the police. The easiest way to avoid any of such scenarios is to detach the police officers back to Abuja.
“We’ve allowed people to go out, but we are protesting this morning to let the world know what’s going on. We are supposed to be at work, but we want the whole world to know what’s happening at Magodo.
“The governor spoke with me yesterday (Monday), and he said he’s on top of it. He has promised to address the situation.
“The Commissioner of Police last week sent the DCP Ops to supervise the withdrawal of troops but they claimed they are yet to get a signal. We learnt the police were drafted from Abuja.
“Our immediate concern is to get the police out of the estate for us to live in peace. We need the government to do the needful to get the family off our neck. About four to five years ago, they did it, and now again this year, they want to do it.”
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