On Thursday, some Ibasa Ijegun-Egba residents—a riverine village in Lagos State’s Oriade Local Council Development Area—condemned the purported police and suspected land grabbers’ incursion into their neighborhood.
The town’s citizens told media that since October 27, the town and its marketplaces had been without tranquility because the police and thugs had taken over.
Chief Tajudeen Ibikunle, the traditional head of the Ibasa Ijegun-Imore village, claimed that on October 27, while he was asleep in his home, a group of thugs and police officers arrived to take him into custody.
“They took me and some other residents to the police command in Onikan and locked us inside a cell,” he remarked.
“Thanks to Oba Afeez Shittu, the traditional ruler of Ijegun-Egba area, who came to bail out some of us who were in the cell, I was released on Saturday.
“These thugs had taken over every aspect of my neighborhood in Ijegun and were upsetting the tranquil mood when I returned on Saturday.
“They were beating and harassing the locals, blocking everything, and claiming to have taken over the community,” the resident said.
“We are pleading with the government to step in right away, as their presence is preventing me from even entering my palace.”
Mrs. Omolara Alebiosu, an Ijegun-Egba homeowner, said that she and her three children were arbitrarily detained in front of their home.
She went on, “My kids and I were beaten up by about fifty thugs, some of them had masks on, and we were made to go inside their car.
“They phoned us on the phone to come to Zone 2 Onikan after we were brought to Ikeja.
“On Friday, they imprisoned us in a cell, and on Saturday, the traditional ruler arrived to free some of us; on Monday, they released the others.
After returning home, we found that the local community is overrun by land grabpers who harass and claim ownership of the town.
Mr. Kareem Idowu, the Youth Chairman of the Ibasa Ijegun-Egba Youth Satellite Community, provided additional details on the incident by stating that a petition had been made against the community.
He stated that the petitioner asserted that young people in the neighborhood are frightening marketers with weapons, engaging in acts of bunkering and willful property damage.
All of these, the youth chairman claimed, were lies, and he expected the police to do a thorough investigation before entering the neighborhood.
“There’s nothing like bunkering in our community because of the presence of naval personnel—one can’t even go near the pipeline,” he clarified.
“The Ogun shrine belongs to us, and the community was working to renovate it so that it would be appropriate for the upcoming celebration.
Additionally, no young person in Ijegun-Egba carries a gun to the market; we are law-abiding residents.
“Many individuals have been arrested and detained up to this point; the police ought to have completed their investigation before entering our community.
Once more, we fail to see why land grabbers should be engaged in this matter, given that numerous thugs have been threatening the locals in Ijegun-Egba and claiming to have taken over our property.
“We are legitimate individuals, and the Lagos State Government has imposed a supreme dictator upon us.
The inability of people to leave their homes or visit the market has had a significant impact on the local economy.
Because we are currently living in dread, we are pleading with the Lagos State Government to step in and bring normalcy back to our areas.
When reached, Hauwa Idris-Adamu, the Zone 2 Onikan Police Public Relations Officer, stated she was unaware of the occurrence.
But she did vow to find out which department was handling the case and to settle the dispute.
