1st April, 2011
The residents of Isawo town in Ikorodu, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria have appealed to Governor Babatunde Fashola to save them from the hands of a land speculator terrorising the community.
The chairman of the United Community Development Association (UCDA), Mr. Abdul Azeez Adeleke, made this appeal while leading residents of the town on a peaceful protest round the community at the weekend against alleged acts of terrorism, harassment and intimidation by a popular land speculator based in Isheri Osun, Lagos.
Mr. Adeleke alleged that since the land speculator had been introduce to members of his association in 2002 by members of Isawo land owning Aboki Lawani family, it has been a tale of terror, anguish and brigandage occasioned by the use of thugs and miscreants against landlords and other residents of the town.
According to him, the speculator does not render any service to any landlord in Isawo and does not feature in the purchase of land but sends his thugs to pounce on landlords to take possession of their land by erecting building on such land. He alleged that apart from the illegal collection of fees such as job cards, roofing and decking fee, the land speculator supports a faction in the family to resell plots of land already sold by the authorised family’s representatives while also using thugs who go about the town with cutlasses and other dangerous weapons to intimidate the landlords to collect illegal fees.
The UCDA Chairman implored the governor to institute a probe panel to investigate the activities of this land agent in Isawo town in order to forestall a break down of law and order, stoppage of all levies on matters pertaining to Isawo land and to prevent all his thugs in the town from harassing residents. He also called for an to the issuance of multiple job cards on the same plot of land in Isawo and refund to all landlords all illegal fees collected from them.
