Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has stepped in to resolve the lingering land dispute in Magodo Phase Two Estate, Channels Television reports.
Sanwo-Olu visited the estate on Tuesday and called on all parties involved for a truce meeting in his office on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, Magodo residents had trooped out in large numbers to stage a protest over the presence of policemen in the estate.
Court bailiffs had also sealed some properties in the estate in the enforcement of a Supreme Court judgment.
The residents, during the protest, converged in front of the estate and displayed various placards lamenting over the situation and seeking the Lagos State Government’s intervention.
SaharaReporters had earlier published a report on how the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre), a civil organisation, expressed dissatisfaction over the arrest of some security guards and a widow with three children at Brooks Estate, Magodo, Lagos, by Commissioner of Police in the state, Hakeem Odumosu.
On Saturday, Odumosu, who was attending a social event at the estate, ordered the arrest of four security guards for their “refusal to allow” him into Brooks Estate.
He subsequently ordered the arrest of one Adebola Fatiregun, a female resident, and her three children, for intervening in the matter.
Adekunle Ajisebutu, Lagos police spokesperson, had said in a statement on Sunday claimed that the CP visited the estate on Saturday to meet a “strategic partner” but was refused entry by some private security guards even after being formally introduced.
Debunking this claim, MABRA said the security guards had no prior knowledge of the CP’s visit and were arrested in their bid to assist him with directions.
According to a statement signed by the estate’s spokesperson, the CP’s action resulted in the complete shutdown of the estate as residents were unable to come in or go out as a result of the arrest of the guards on duty.
Chairman of HEDA, Suraj Olanrewaju, in a statement on Tuesday insisted that the police boss was expected to act in a civil manner befitting of his class in the society and show a sense of mental maturity by playing by the rules guiding entry and exit of the estate executed by the security guards.
